Thing 14

I'm not entirely sure what I would do with LibraryThing. If I didn't already think of the catalog I work with as "mine," I might be prompted to add my personal collection here. But I live in a very, very, very, small apartment. I have had to cull my herd. I'm not sure my personal collection reflects my reading joys anymore...so much as the REALLY expensive books I couldn't simply donate away.

I can totally see the social aspects of the sight being cool. However, I have a profile with Hennepin County's Bookspace.org, and I use it a lot. The social networking, book lists and comments options on Bookspace fill my needs fully. (And I don't feel limited to my poor little collection at home.)

If I were not a librarian...but simply super nit picky, I could see organising my catalog this way.

I wish they had a site like this that isn't just for books, but for collections in general. That would be super fun. I met a man in Malibu, CA who has a HUGE wine collection, and a terrible system for cataloging it. I feel like he would benefit from something like this two-fold. He would keep better track of what he has, and what he needs. He would also have a public forum for bragging rights. (He did come off as the kind of guy who really wants you to KNOW how cool his collection is.) Same goes for my fella, who unfortunately has had to cull his collection too. However, at one point he had the raddest Star Wars collection ever. He's also the kind of guy who would like a nit-picky little system for cataloging it.

See my five titles at:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/jessi_face

Thing 13

Which start page did you choose? Why did that one appeal to you? Will you make it your permanent home page?

I have an iGoogle page, and it is currently my homepage at home. (My homepage at work is the library website.) I like that it connects to my gmail account directly, so I can read my emails from there. (My gmail account is my sacred account, I don't sign up for ANYTHING with it.) I have it set to show me new articles that would most interest me as well as the weather. It also collects all of my fellas RSS feeds, so he can update them in one shot...Also it has cute monster graphics, which we like.

Did you find a tool that has some uses for you at the library or at home? Which tool(s) would you recommend to others?

I like the Hennepin County Catalog search widgit. I have it on my myspace, facebook and now my iGoogle front pages. Super rad!

How can the online calendars be useful to you?

My fella is always trying to get me to contribute to his online calender. I'm sort of the social force in our relationship and often make plans for us to go out and play. He wishes (and I most certainly will get around to it) that I put my, and our schedule into it so he knows what's going on. I DO tell him about this stuff before it happens...despite his claims. I also realize we would have a more amicable weekend if I would just sit down and enter the stuff...It's just that there is a lot of stuff to enter. A lot! i already wrote it down in my personal date book, and informed him via verbal conversation....I now realize that is not enough....just don't tell him I said so.

Thing 12

I dig Digg. When I'm surfing the news, I usually review the "most emailed or commented" articles these sites post. Because, hey, who doesn't enjoy the entertainment factor? A lot of the grizzly, gossipy, low-down-dirty stuff makes those lists. However, I must point out that sometimes it feels less like news, and more like "popular media."

I really try to focus on the Times site, NPR, and my local papers (all online or through the radio and RSS feeds.) There I get a grip on the aspects of the world that are newsworthy, without having that "hot new thing" aspect. Because if I didn't, the only people informing me would be (well lets face it) John Stewart and Stephen Colbert...Oh yeah, and that weird celebrity blogger guy that broke into tears after Brittany's heinous music video awards debacle.

Still, it's cool to have the opportunity to express and enjoy the opinions of other news junkies...because even the Strib is hiding Iraq on page seventeen these days. I'm not interested in what sells papers, (from what I hear NOTHING is selling papers right now...not even free subscriptions!) I just want to know whats goin' on.

So, this becomes my new task. "Digg"ing the stories that have importance globally (Like the Bear Crash), and trying not to digg the stories I couldn't help but read (like about product placement in the new Sex and the City movie.) Which is what I did...However, I can't help but point out that the sex and the city one is still right up there in the top ten "most commented/e-mailed" without my help at all.

Thing 11

I've had a delicious account for a while now. I really like having bookmarks that I can take to any computer!!! I also like how it recommends web-sites to me based on what I already enjoy. (I found a lot of Japanese street fashion sites that way!)

This has become increasingly useful with each site I want to bookmark. The tags help me keep everything organized and run searches within my own person catalog of websites.

Me likey!

Thing 10

We use wiki's a lot in Library school. I like them better than the online document generators from thing 9 for collaborating with other people. Not only can you co-create and alter information, you can also post attachments. For me this is a better middle place between emails and online word processors.

I know wikipedia gets a lot of flack because of the fact that anyone can alter the information, and that can often be wrong. But I like the fact that it isn't static, like a book. Wrong information can be fixed, without a reprinting. Also, its a really great resource for PRE research. You may not use that information in your final project, but it is a powerful tool to get your brain thinking about all your options. Finally, wikipedia covers really OBSCURE and/or CURRENT information. For instance: you can read about the concept of sub-culture groups using zombies as a method of social justice...where else are you going to find that?!! Also, as soon as Pluto was downgraded to "planetoid" wikipedia was on it. A lot of my print resources still claim it's a planet! (Of course, I would steer people to a database for this...still its a good example.)

By the way, I edited the 23 Things wiki. I AM Jessi, and I do rule!!!! (Even though it felt a little bit like graffitti!!)

Thing 9

I've requested permission to alter the Google Doc, but have yet to figure the other one out...

give me some time on this one...


THING 9 CONTINUED:

Okay, now that I can mess around with them, I have some thoughts regarding these tools.

1. I'm not sold on their greater usefulness to word documents. As I have been using Word since I could walk, these applications don't come naturally. I feel like a PC user in a Mac world. Google Docs feels more navigable than Zoho...I don't know if that's just me.

2. I CAN see the usefulness of this if you are collaborating with lots and lots and LOTS of people. All of whom must be comfortable with the shift from Word to "other."

3. I like the ability to offer word processing to people in the library who can't get a computer that has Word programmed on it. In the most busy of times, this is a good alternative. Also, if people don't have email addresses or flash drives etc. (or are simply poor savers!!!) this is a good alternative to lugging the info around or managing attachments.

It was really easy to set up a Google Docs account. No hassle and no advertising. This is why Google rocks so hard!

Thing 8 afterthoughts

Well, as you can see, I have made a photo cube. It includes pictures of a taxidermized two-headed calf, my cat splayed out in bear-trap formation, me gazing adoringly at the most handsome boy in the world (one flesh, one fiberglass), a giant cement prairie dog, and me dressed as Turanga Leela from Futurama.

I think this stuff is fun, but I hated wading through all those advertisements! Blech. Again, I could see us running a teen tech camp on these topics...but they may have photo cubes down pat. I also realize that I should start taking photos of things that aren't, well, so very very strange.

Thing 8