Library Bob

Last post

SPQR — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 03:03:45 +0000

This is now a defunct blog. As it stands, there will be no further updates…

Pax Vobiscum.

-SPQR

A discovery about blogging on WordPress – Drafts

SPQR — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:48:16 +0000

Well, I discovered something new today…. and somewhat frustrating. You see, I thought I had started to blog on the next Webolution task (11 and 12: Professional Development Websites). I recall having a few minutes to spare one day while I was working the reference desk, so I banged out a few lines on the blog. Unfortunately, I was not able to finish, so I saved it as a draft and went on about my business, expecting to come back to it again later, finish the entry, and publish it. Or so I thought…

It was a few days later before I actually got back to the blog, and I was not able to find the draft. Perhaps I didn’t save it. Maybe drafts expire after a few days on WordPress.com… Whatever. I just started again on the post and didn’t think much more about it. Again, I ran out of time, so I very intentionally and deliberately saved the draft and went on to whatever it was I had to do next…

Flash forward to today. No draft to be found. Again. *@$%#!!! To my credit, the F-bomb was only muttered under my breath, and I am sure no one heard me, although the monitor did flicker for a moment, and the cup of water sitting on the desk beside me briefly began to boil (see Piers Anthony’s Xanth series)… So I started again. With a heavy heart and a *very* strong sense of deja vu, I began to re-create the blog entry for what I am now sure was the third time, pausing to save obsessively. Then it happened. I accidentally clicked the “Save” button, instead of the “Save and Continue Editing” button. Flash to blank blog entry screen – no sign of the work I had just done. Again x 2. %*&^$@#!!! This *%^@$$-ing $%@#$%!!!! A fluorescent bulb above my head went out, and the bar code scanner gave a couple of pathetic beeps and then stopped working altogether. A small fire started in the trashcan beside me, but I was able to put it out with what was left of the cup of boiling water.

I was able to finally figure out what the problem was: Apparently, you must have a title for your post before you can save it. Of course, the WordPress engine doesn’t actually tell you this. The lowliest Windows app (say notebook) will not allow you to save a file without a title; WordPress just sits there and hums innocently as you frantically look for your missing work…

Just had to get that off my chest!

-SPQR

Discovery Task #9 and 10: Tagging

SPQR — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:51:21 +0000

Library Bob has been on a sort of temporary hiatus for the past couple of weeks due to a sudden family emergency, the start of Summer Reading Games 2007 (Get A Clue! / You Never Know!), and simple procrastination… The last is the worst.

Now I’m back. Blogging for laptops!

The only other way I know of to get a free laptop out of blogging is to write positive stuff about Microsoft. Let’s give it a shot…

Microsoft rules!!!

Bill Gates for President!!!

Get Windows Vista now!!!

Microsoft, saving the world one user at a time…

….

I’ll let you know when my new laptop arrives… it’s worth a shot… meanwhile…

Task #9: View the 12 minute Del.icio.us tutorial video(12 min video)

Ok, so I watched the thing. Actually, first I removed QuickTime and installed QuickTime Alternative. I mean, sometimes it’s okay to watch a Net Vid in a 1″ by 1″ box, but sometimes I would like to see it a little larger. Especially when there is a screen capture…

Which brings me to another point: podcasts. Unless the information you are trying to convey will be in someway enhanced by me actually hearing your voice, just don’t! If you truly believe you are going to be the next greatest thing in talk radio, and you need your stuff out there so all the ‘ditto-heads’ can propel your meteoric rise to fame, ok (but only if you are good…) Otherwise, type it up in Word (or better yet OpenOffice), convert it to HTML markup, and upload that puppy! Easier for me, easier for you, everyone is happy.

Task #10: Visit Sharon Morris’ (of the Colorado State Library) del.icio.us site, Sharmor and take particular note of her Library Issues and Library Tech tags. Also, check out Penn Tags in the University of Pennsylvania’s online catalog.

Don’t forget to blog about your experience with del.icio.us and discuss some useful tags you found! And, tell us what you think about library catalogs allowing users to (gasp!) enter their own classification via tagging.

Ok, visited the sites, saw the tags, got the t-shirt. Sorry, this is one Web 2.0 area in which I just don’t like to play. Sure, I’ve seen del.icio.us before, tried it a couple of times, but I just don’t feel it. You see, I like the good, old-fashioned hierarchical nested lists of bookmarks. Give me a series of folders which I have categorized myself, with relevant links all nicely nestled in their homes, and I am a happy camper. I have no use for a random list of tags, some of which are bigger than the other. Just doesn’t make it easier for me to find what I need.

As far as library users adding tags to a library catalog database, I am o.k. with that as far as it goes, so long as the patron tags remain separate from the normal search functions. They should be available by request, but should not modify or supercede the formal listing.

See you next time for Professional Development Websites….

-SPQR

Discovery Task #7& 8: RSS Feeds

SPQR — Thu, 10 May 2007 18:05:04 +0000

I have not had much interaction with RSS feeds, so I am looking forward to these tasks…

7. Check out one of the following RSS tutorials.
Bloglines Tutorial (how to keep up with dozens of blogs everyday) – This online tutorial walks you through how to setup a Bloglines account and add newsfeeds. Follow Steps 1 to 3 to set up your Bloglines account. Steps 4 – 9 are optional and cover how to subscribe to different types of feeds (podcasts, Flickr albums, etc)Follow the discovery resources above to learn more about RSS and newsreaders.
And/or
Add RSS Feeds to Bloglines (a You Tube video)

Checked out the first one… basically a walk-through with images of signing up with Bloglines.com and subscribing to RSS feeds… Very well done.

8. Create a free online Bloglines account for yourself and subscribe to several newsfeeds with your Bloglines reader. See Using Bloglines Tutorial steps 1-3 for instructions. Don’t forget to blog about your RSS experience on your personal blog!

Signed up and grabbed a few feeds. I am very impressed with the functionality and ease of use the Bloglines interface provides. This has definitely become my default RSS feed browser!

Another two tasks toward my new laptop in the bag…

- SPQR

Webolution – Discovery Task #5 & 6: Flickr

SPQR — Thu, 10 May 2007 08:59:51 +0000

5. Take the Flickr tour.
or try this Flickr Tutorial from Mediamazine

I am already familiar with Flickr, at least for viewing images. I looked at the tour briefly, and I think I will check out the tutorial in the hopes of finding interesting uses for Flickr. That’s the really cool thing about Web 2.0 – it’s not just about using new websites and online applications, etc.

It’s more about finding interesting ways to use a personalized set of apps/sites together in synergy in order to create a vastly more useful (and entertaining) internet experience…

6. Blog about your Flickr experience and an interesting image you found.

I went looking for LOL Cats and I found one:

If you are not familiar with LOLCat phenomenon in general, you need to check out the whole concept via the I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER? blog…

Meanwhile, I ended up staying up into the wee hours image editing, uploading, and organizing a set of photos of my grandparents’ house (which no longer exists…) It is a public set of photos, which you can check out here, if you are so inclined…

That is all. I’m going to bed.

-SPQR

MCPLD – Library Webolution

SPQR — Wed, 09 May 2007 16:06:45 +0000

Welcome to the Library Bob blog, such as it is… The impetus for this blog can be explained by the above banner… Click on it to go to that blog or click here…

Anyway, follow along as I work my way through the MCPLD Webolution project and on to the prize of a new laptop…. Watch me trick Fred out of his Fruity Pebbles…

- SPQR

Update: Nancy (Head of Automation & Info Technology – MCPLD) is adding staff blogs to the blogroll on the Webolution blog, so I won’t repeat the effort here… any blogs that continue to be updated after this project is over may be reconsidered for addition to the Library Bob blogroll…

Best blog ever…

SPQR — Wed, 09 May 2007 21:23:18 +0000

Take a few minutes (right now… do it) and head on over to Wil Wheaton’s blog and check it out. For those of you who don’t know, or might not remember, Wil is perhaps best known for playing the character Wesley Crusher on the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also portayed the character Gordie Lachance in the movie Stand By Me.

Wil is a product of my generation [cue The Who], being (I believe) two years younger than me. By the content and tone of his posts, Wil and I share many hobbies as well as a very similar outlook on life. That being said, only one of us regularly appears on TV, even if only in re-runs…

The long and short of it all is Wil Wheaton’s blog is hilarious, snarky, and so very true… Do yourself a favor and check it out!

- SPQR

Webolution – Discovery Task #1& 2: Introduction

SPQR — Wed, 09 May 2007 18:52:23 +0000

Ok, here we go….

Task 1. Read this blog and familiarize yourself with the project.

It looks like it’s going to be fun, especially when I win the laptop at the end! Ok, a guy can dream… As I have already been spending too much time immersing myself in Web 2.0 stuff, it’s kinda nice that I am now officially being paid to do it… I love this job!

Task 2. Read Stephen Abram’s 43 Things I might want to do this year from which Helene Blowers program at PLCMC was loosely based. There are some interesting links to check out at the end of the .PDF document. I will comment on them as I get to them, and some of them at least will certainly be part of the Webolution project.

Done and done….

-SPQR