Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Library Thing

I love 'Library Thing'. I have been looking for a product for years (literally) that can easily and effectively organize all the books I own, and 'Library Thing' appears to fill that need. I'm sure I'll have to upgrade to the lifetime paid version. Yes, I have that many books. However, that is something that I'll worry about another day.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/rlrudigier

Monday, July 30, 2007

Swimming with Dolphins

I created a Yahoo avatar which looks exactly like me. She lives on the ocean and swims with the dolphins. I live in a dream world.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Bloglines URL

Hooray! I finally managed to find my public URL on Bloglines: http://www.bloglines.com/blog/Marian-Librarian

It wasn't easy to find.

RSS feeds

I love RSS feeds. After setting up my Bloglines account for the library environment, I set up another for strictly personal use. I also have 2 Google Readers, one for the library and one for myself, that I set up, following Staff Day. I tend to prefer using Google to Bloglines. You can integrate it into your own personal Google web page and continue whatever else you are doing without going far from the Reader. It doesn't feel as clumsy.

Trading Card


My creation
Originally uploaded by rlrudigier
I love cute cat photos. This one sums up Monday mornings.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Mashups

I must be clueless. How do you use mashups? There's Colr Pickr where you can select images according to a color scheme. In addition you can adjust the tone. Big Huge Labs http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/ looks interesting. You can make lots of things from calendars to CD art to wallpaper to badges. However, I can't figure out the use of most of the applications.

Mornings

I feel like this in the morning.

Flickr is addictive. I couldn't resist adding this to my blog. After this I'll get down to work and decide what to do with mashups.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Flickr Flickr

Well, I've checked out the Flickr site, and it definitely has a lot of pretty pictures. I have no idea what I'll do with them since I'm not into digital photography or web design. Maybe I'll find some cool wallpaper for my computer.
This photo looks like it could be the inspiration for Claude Monet's 'Lilies'.

Monday, July 16, 2007

7 1/2 ways a blog can be useful

I hope to find some personal relevance in the blogosphere and relate it to different aspects of my life.

In simplest terms, a blog can be a useful communication device for groups. It can share information that all individuals, in any given group, need to know in a variety of formats. It is not limited to text, although that is highly useful for the verbally literate. Movies, photos, songs, you name it , can be shared with ease. Best of all, you don't have to decide if what you are saying is important. Once you have the thought, all you have to do is post it.

Sarcasm aside, there are some very pragmatic uses for blogs. I hope to come up with no less than 7 1/2 of them for different interest groups:

1. Consumers: ratings & rankings of products & services. A good example would be the type of consumer feedback you see on 'Amazon' or 'Tripadvisor'

2. Medical patients support groups: tips & ideas for dealing with specific conditions.

3. Other support groups: Some types that come to mind, would include those that deal with
relationships affected by specific issues such as alcoholism or mental illness.

4. Hobbyists: images for collectors; lyrics of songs for those who don't want to pay for them; help for challenges. In particular, I am thinking of when I hit a 'brick wall' in trying to get information on an ancestor of mine when doing genealogical research. I posted a question to a forum, and a distant cousin contacted me with the missing information.

5. Professionals: issues affecting different professional fields, such as (gasp!) libraries

6. Workplace: intradepartmental, interdepartmental communications. This is particularly useful in organizations that have not had a formalized method for sharing 'need to know' information'. So much work is defined by computers, so it should not be a big problem.

7. Communities: information about neighborhoods

8. Politics: information about candidates and issues

9. Friends: playtime for the young. I don't have to name 'My Space' as a prime example of a social network, but I will. However, if you have friends why not spend time with them instead of yakking on computers?

10. Miscellaneous: One example, that doesn't fit into a neat category is on St. Mary's County Library's web page, 'Flat Tops', which has a lot of interesting photos and information on a Lexington Park neighborhood that no longer exists.

Okay. So I've come up with more than 7 1/2 uses for blogs, and I suppose that the list could go on. One good thing that has come out of this exercise, is that I've developed some enthusiasm for the idea of blogs. However, I'm sure that most people are not truly interested in my feelings about it. Perhaps some of my ideas about uses will stimulate others in their pursuit of 'The Blog'.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Ready to Go

I'm ready to launch my first post. I have completed 'Things" 1, 2, 3, & 4.