Week 16: Wrap-up Webinars & Final Posting

I most enjoyed finding and learning how to use Library Thing and Shelfi. I least enjoyed the social networking units. In any event I learned a good deal about a lot of different Web 2.0 applications. I certainly would not be afraid to take on a project involving the use of any of the tools we looked at in 23 Things Kansas. Getting through all of the lessons was a bit of a struggle but few things worthwhile in life are not. Following is a week by week recap of parting thoughts, to wit: Week One: Blogging I don't think I'm ever going to become a regular blogger. I have from time to time in my life attempted to keep a diary or journal but these sporadic efforts have always fizzled out. Week Two: Online Communities Facebook is not my cup of tea. As I previously wrote in this blog, I trend towards "Social Interaction Overload" rather easily. I seriously doubt if I will retain my Facebook page after the end of this course. I think the security issues surrounding Facebook are too great. Once they get a handle on these maybe I will reconsider but I doubt it. Week Three: Online Meetings Besides being great for interactive distance learning, Infopeople, SirsiDynix, BCR, Wimba (WebJunction – Kansas) and Opal were all very good archival resources for prior CE sessions. Week Four: Photo Sharing Not being much of a photographer Flickr probably won't be of much use to me in the future. At least not for photos taken by me since I don't even own a digital camera except for the one in my cell phone. Several of my relatives use Flikr rather often so having an account may make it easier to see their photos. Thus, I may hang on to the Flikr account for awhile to test this hypothesis. Week Five: RSS and Feed Readers I'm still not sure if I'm going to be able to make much use of the Google Reader I'm going to have to "play around" with it some more before I make up my mind. I have a terrible time keeping up with the newspapers and magazines I subscribe to. Perhaps, in time using this tool I'll be able to drop some of those subscriptions and save a little dough. Week Six: Tagging and Social Bookmarking I think I'm going to really like using Delicious. I doubt I will use it much for "Social Bookmarking" but I can really see it being handy for accessing my personal bookmarks from any computer anywhere anytime. Week Seven: Microblogging I'm dumping my Twitter account as we speak. Talk about "Social Interaction Overload," this is the most worthless waste of time ever conceived. Well maybe not the most but it has to be in the top ten. Week Eight: Cloud Computing I started using Google Docs to keep files related to various projects I have been working on so that I can get access (assuming you have internet access) from different computers ( home, work, the library, etc.) without having to haul around floppies or flash drives. While I rarely work on anything requiring collaboration any more, I can see how this would be very useful. I'm also using Microsoft Office Live Workspace Beta which appears to be very similar to Google Docs. I haven't decided which one I like better yet. Week Nine: Instant Messaging Hate it. Want nothing to do with it. I would rather talk on the phone. And I hate telephones. Week Ten: Video on the Web As I previously wrote in my blog: I am never going to be the next James Cameron but I think if I had to I could (with a decent camera) shoot a video and edit it into something worthwhile. This ability would be most useful in preparing in house training on various circulation and other library procedures. Week 11: Break – Wunderbar! Week 12: Screencasting Like the video on the web tools these tools will be very useful in preparing training materials Week 13: Slide Sharing Ditto my comments from weeks 10 and 12. Week 14: Library Thing, Etc. I really love the Library Thing and Shelfi. I am using them regularly. Without 23 Things Kansas I don't know if I ever would have discovered these great tools. Week 15: Wikis I had been familiar with Wikis for some time before coming to 23 Things Kansas. Never the less, it was interesting to revisit them. Week 16: Wrap-up Webinars I was unable to sit in on either of the wrap-up webinars live. I did however; listen to the archived webinar from Wednesday, April 28 (morning). All in all in sounds like everyone thought this course was well worth the effort. That is a sentiment with which I concur. I am looking forward to trying to get some of the tools we studied implemented in the library where I work.

Week Six: Tagging and Social Bookmarking

I have often been dismayed when at work I wanted to access a particular web page that I had bookmarked on my home computer but could remember its URL exactly or even what its name was.  This often led to an extended Google search to find the web site I was looking for and a great waste of time.  Delicious sounds like it could be a great solution to that problem.  Like our mentor who wrote "the use of the word social made me a little nervous,  I wondered if I was going to have to talk to strangers or mingle."  Since sociability is not my strongest suit, after reviewing the lesson materials and the Delicious website, I was greatly relieved to find out "there is none of that with social bookmarking, and you don't have to be social if you don't want to."  Thus, I hope you will forgive me if I am no more social with my bookmarks than absolutely necessary to accomplish this week's activities.  I registered for an account under the user name and uploaded the bookmarks from my browser.   I could not add the buttons to my browser at work so I'll have to do that later when I have my personal laptop  I have been using delicious regularly for several days now and except for my usual security concerns I like it.  I bookmarked the Purdue Owl APA Formatting and Style Guide  tagged it and sent it to rbrown3.  Finally, I created a tag bundle called Formatting and Style Guide.

Week 15: Wikis

For Activity #1 I elected to edit my hometown's (Derby, KS) page in Wikipedia.  The only thing I edited was a reference in footnote 3 which was in error.  I corrected the name of the magazine from Parenting to Family Circle and inserted a link to the referenced article on the Family Circle website.  I accomplished Activity #2 and here is the link to my 23 Things Kansas wiki page: http://23thingskansas.wetpaint.com/page/Terry+Hamblin.

Week 14: Library Thing, Etc.

I created accounts on Library Thing and Shelfari.  After 14 weeks I think that I've finally discovered something I can really make use of.  I really like the cataloging ability with Library Thing and I really like the "I Plan to Read," "Reading Now" and "I've Read" lists on Shelfari.  It seems to me that these functions are easier to use on Shelfari than on Library Thing.  Since I now have accounts with both I think I will use Library Thing to catalog my own library and Shelfari to keep track of my reading lists.  I look forward to having some "spare time" to play around more with both of these websites.  I wish I had had my personal library cataloged on Library Thing when my house burned back in 2000.  It sure would have made it a lot easier to settle with the insurance company.

Week 13: Slide Sharing

­­­­­­For this week's project I chose http://www.slideshare.net  as my slide sharing website.   In the interest of time I selected an old power point presentation that I created for an MLS class.  After signing up for an account I found it very easy to upload my slide show which can be viewed at http://www.slideshare.net/tdhamblin/a-brief-history-of-law-books-law-libraries.

Week 12: Screencasting

I started working on this week's lesson on a computer at my place of employment, the Derby Public Library.  Since I could not download Jing! to the library's computer I thought I would try  Screentoaster.com.  I am no prude but I must say I was a bit taken aback by the very pornographic "suggested videos" that popped up right under the Screentoaster.com demo screen.  Thus I decided to wait until I could bring in my own laptop and download Jing!  Having done so, I successfully downloaded Jing!   I then sat down and wrote out a script for my screencast along with the screen shots cut and pasted into the script.  Once this was done, after a few false starts, I successfully capture my screencast.  Unfortunately, it was sans audio.  I thought my laptop had an internal microphone but apparently not.  Thus, I was unable to capture my captivating commentary which somewhat diluted the experience when I played the screencast back.  Anyway, I now know how to make a screencast and if I can find a microphone somewhere to use with my laptop I will re-record the screencast with audio and post it.

WEEK 11 BREAK

Nothing to post for week 11.  Yea!

Week Ten: Video on the Web

For Activity #1 I did a search on YouTube for a catfishing video.  Catfishing is one of my favorite hobbies.  I particularly enjoy fishing in the spring and fall when the weather is nice.  I selected a video about trotline fishing for catfish and embedded it into a blog post on my blog.  The first couple of videos I selected did not have embed codes.  This is the first one that could find with an embed code.  Following the instructions on how to embed video into a Blogger blog set forth in this week's lesson I had no problem at all embedding the video in my blog..  I really enjoyed this video because it reminded me of several trot line fishing outings I had when I was about the same age as the boys in the video.   For Activity #2 I borrowed a digital camera.  After several false starts I finally figured out how to record video images.  The production quality of the video I have uploaded to YouTube and then embedded in my blog is pitiful but I did get exposure to Windows Movie Maker.  I am never going to be the next James Cameron but I think if I had to I could (with a decent camera) shoot a video and edit it into something worthwhile.

Week Nine: Instant Messaging

When I was overseas working I used an early version of Yahoo! Messenger to stay in touch with friends and family.  I found it to be a useful tool so long as you had previously set up specific times taking into account time differentials as to when friends and family could expect to find me online.  After I got back I found myself more and more frequently putting myself offline due to the number of IM requests appearing nearly every time I signed into Yahoo.  I guess my biggest problem with IM and chat in general is the same problem I have with Facebook, etc.  I call it SOCIAL INTERACTION OVERLOAD.  Admittedly I have a very low threshold of social interaction tolerance in general and I do not begrudge anyone who wants to be in touch 24/7/365 but that is not my cup of tea.  Thus, don't expect to find me online for chatting up with any frequency if at all.  Now, having said the forgoing, I do see some valid uses for IM and chat.  One that I really like is the online reference librarian.  I have actually used this service through ESU's White Library's Ask a Librarian and found it to be most helpful from time to time.  I can also see how it could be very useful when working on a project collaboratively on a tight deadline.  As with all of the tools we have looked at thus far in this course of study I can see some valid uses for them.  I would venture to say that I am skeptical of most of the uses to which they are put

Week Eight: Cloud Computing

Here it is Saturday of Week 14 and I'm just now getting to Week 8's lesson.  By now I assume (Yes, I know what that word tends to do) that nearly everyone has moved on to something else.  Thus, I am not going to try to ask someone to "go back" and help me out with the collaborative portion of Week 8's activities.  Rather, I will take a little time to say what I did do and expound a bit on the advantages I can see to this "cloud computing" concept. I chose to use the Google product since I already had a Google account and G-Mail.  After walking through the suggestions and playing around with uploading a few documents it occurs to me that this product could also be used to keep files related to various projects you are working on to access from different computers ( home, work, the library, etc.) without having to haul around floppies or flash drives (assuming you have internet access.) I messed around a bit with the Scriblink.com white board and found I have the same problems with it as I do with a chalk board or regular white board (i.e. writing a level line) except that I do have somewhat better control of the piece of chalk or marker in the real world than I do trying to write with a mouse.  Click here to see my results pitiful as they are. I couldn't use Drop Box because I was working on this at work at I cannot download software from the internet on the computers at work.  After watching the little video on the Drop Box home page I think this product may have even greater potential than the Google product for organizing files and having access to them from anywhere except for the requirement to download software to whatever machine you are using to access the files at  Drop Box. As for the 30 Boxes web based calendar program, after reading the privacy statement and terms I think I'm going to mull using this one.  I guess this site and many of the others just seem to open my personal privacy space to a wider and wider audience until eventually I don't think there will be any privacy left.  I will however, save that subject for a rant another day.

Week Seven: Microblogging

I chose Twitter because it seems to be the most ubiquitous. Frankly, I simply don't get this need to be constantly in contact with people. Where do people find the time to be on Facebook, Twitter, etc. all day and all night? I have a relative that is on Facebook every single time I sign on. For the most part I couldn't give a hoot what most of the people I know that are on Twitter blather on about. Perhaps, I am inherently antisocial by nature but what happened to sitting at home reading a good book. I will concede that Twitter might be useful for keeping up to date on schedule changes at conferences and I am somewhat intrigued by the use of Twitter during the Iranian mess alluded to at the beginning of this lesson. Never the less, it seems to me that most of the tweets I've looked did not serve any good purpose beyond idle chat. In order to be fair though, I started following 23thingsks, hbraum, the List of Kansas Librarians on Twitter, and the List of Kansas Libraries on Twitter and will keep an open mind as I monitor the these tweeters.

Week Five: RSS and Feed Readers

I decided to try the Google Reader because it looked like it might be the easiest one to get started with. Easiest or not it was fairly easy to get set up and use. For purposes of this class I subscribed to the 23 Things Kansas blog and T-Dawg's Blog. As time passes I will probably add others but for now I am so far behind on these 23 Things Kansas lessons I am going to move on to the next one.

Week Four: Photo Sharing

The New Derby Public Library Another View
Originally uploaded by T-Dawg1954

I created a Free Account in Flickr as t-dawg1954. I have been a member of Yahoo! since it began but, until now, I was unaware that Flickr is part of Yahoo! We have just recently opened a new public library so I started to create a “virtual” library tour. I hope to be able to get back to it eventually and flesh it out. Sadly, between work and other “vital” commitments I am not sure when I’ll actually be able to get back to work on it some more. I’m having a devil of a time trying to get caught up on these 23 Things Kansas lessons. I added the following tags to a picture of the new Derby Public Library posted on my Flkr page, to wit:

Derby Public Library
23 Things Kansas
Derby, KS

I watched Heather Braum’s walk through on how to set up Flickr’s blogging tool. After a couple of false starts I finally got my blog and Flikr page linked using this “handy little tool.” I added one of my images of the new Derby Public Library to my blog by clicking on the Blog This button (right above the picture). I am not sure who exactly took this photo but I know it was one of the DPL staff.

Week Three: Online Meetings

I know the assignment only required viewing one (1) archived webinar from any of the sources listed in this lesson.  I examined the archives at Infopeople, SirsiDynix, BCR, Wimba (WebJunction – Kansas) and Opal.  At Infopeople I looked at New Copyright Tools and Best Practices: Copyright Law Update 2010 a webinar originally presented by Mary Minow on Jan 14, 2010 from 12pm-1pm PST.  At SirsiDynix I viewed From Libraries to Lifebraries originally presented Feb 2, 2010 by Helene Blowers, Director of Digital Strategy, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Ohio.  I found Ms. Blower's examination of current trends suggesting that the imminent demise of print may be somewhat exaggerated very interesting.  At BCR I made a quick pass through The Future for Cataloging led by Linda Gonzalez on January 25, 2008.  I want to go back when I have more time and explore this session in more depth.   For a Wimba session I chose The Kansas Tax Form Webinar held on Friday, December 18, 2009.  Finally, at Opal I looked at their Archive of History and Genealogy Programs and more specifically at the archived session Genealogy: How to Write to the Courthouse presented by Christine Merseal of the Jefferson County Library in Missouri in November 2007.  I rather liked the various format options that most of the Opal webinars offered, to wit: Streaming audio, text chat, and presentation slides about Writing the Courthouse (Playback time: 55 minutes) MP3 audiorecording about Writing the Courthouse (16.8 MB file; playback time of 55 minutes) PowerPoint slides about Writing the Courthouse. I am planning on sitting in on the live Infopeople webinar Open Office: What Libraries Need to Know featuring Laura Solomon as speaker scheduled for Thursday, March 18, 2010 from 12pm-1pm PDT.  Of course, I will also being joining this project wrap-up webinars during the week of April 26-30.

Week Two: Online Communities

I had previously created a Facebook page at the insistence of my sister-in-law. Never the less, I went ahead and reviewed the step-by-step guide, Facebook 101 and the other recommended links and found a couple of useful tips that I had not known about when I originally set up my account. This is particularly true with respect to privacy settings. Based upon what I read during the course of this lesson I have know "locked" access to my Facebook page down as tight as I think possible by giving access to anything remotely sensitive to friends only. I sent friend request(s) to Janelle Mercer and Heather Braum the mentors for this session. I hope the links to their Facebook pages here worked. I have received confirmation from Janelle but not yet from Heather. I have written on several of my family members walls. The other night, quite by accident, I discovered the live chat function when I was working on this 23 Things Kansas assignment on Facebook. Suddenly a chat window popped open with my sister-in-law chatting me up and we exchange inanities for about fifteen minutes. Now I really need to find out how to hide the fact that I am online when I log into Facebook. I explored Mashable's Facebook Guide and found a lot of good information about using Facebook. I added myself as a fan to the State Library of Kansas Facebook page. While I was fooling around I also ended up adding myself as fans to to the I Love Pizza John's/Derby Kansas and the Derby Panther Football Facebook pages. Pizza John's in Derby has the best thin crust pizza on the planet. As I am a graduate of Derby High School, have had several nephews that played for the Panthers over the years and have a niece who is currently a DSH cheerleader I was already a fan before Facebook was ever dreamed of. I think I became a fan of 23 Things Kansas but it doesn't show up on my FB page fan list even though I do show up in the fans list on the 23 Things Kansas FB page. I joined the 23 Things Kansas Ning. Here is a link to my page: Terry Hamblin . I joined the Kansas Library Association FB group.

Week One: Blogging

What are your feelings (good and bad) concerning the tool of the week

I chose Blogger due to being somewhat familiar with it from a class I had. As far as blogs go Blogger is as good as any as far as I can tell.

Have you had any breakthroughs? Any failures? What have you learned from them?

I have not been able to figure out howto create text in Word and then copy and paste it into my blog. I have figured out a work around by using the ability to post via e-mail. I can create my text in Word, copy and paste it into an email and send it to my blog. I can then edit the blog post in the blogger edit post window.

Create links to resources, other people's blogs, or other useful sites on the web in order to connect your posts to the wider world (even if you're only linking back to the 23 Things blog!).

23 Things Kansas Blog

23Things Kansas Facebook Page

Ancestry.com

Terry Hamblin's Facebook Page

Most importantly, visit a few other participants' blogs and leave comments on their posts so you can start conversations.

About Me

            I am an attorney and CPA more or less retired from practice.  From 1987 to 2005 I lived in Lawrence, Kansas.  From 1987 – 1991 I worked for the state of Kansas in the Department of Revenue first as Director of Property Valuation then Director of Collections.  From 1991 - 2001 I worked as an Assistant Attorney General for the Kansas Attorney General in a number of capacities.

 

Since July 2005 I have been living on a farm, homesteaded in 1872 by my Great-great-great Grandfather, near Belle Plaine, Kansas about 12 miles south of Wichita.   The farm is the original homestead where my mother's family settled in and I am now the fifth generation to live in the 80+-year-old farmhouse.  Sadly, we had to tear down the original house, which sat next to the house I now live in, a few years back because it had become a fire hazard threatening the "new" house.  I don't farm the land as my mother's cousin handles that.  While I enjoy the rural lifestyle, Internet access is unfortunately limited to very poor dial up landlines hence I do not have it.  I have to go up to Derby every couple of days and use the broadband service at my folk's house or the library to get on the Internet.         

 

  I graduated from ESU in 1978 with a BSB in accounting and from Washburn Law School in 1980 with a JD.  I completed my MLS from ESU SLIM in Dec 2007.  In addition to the MLS I received an Archives Studies certificate and completed all requirements for a Legal Information Management certificate except the practicum.

 

I presently work at the Derby Public Library in Derby, KS in the circulation and collection development areas.