Week 2-Level 1 Social Cataloging

I began using LibraryThing about a year ago.  I heard about it during one of my graduate classes and decided to give it a go.  I fell in love with it quickly due to the fact that it allows you to have sub-sections of the books you have read.  My profile can be viewed here.


I am able to keep track of the books that I personally own and the ones that I have checked out at the library.  It gives me the chance to get free books each month.  I have been selected now twice.  


In the past, I have attempted to use GoodReads as well, but I found myself more adjusted to LibrayThing since it was the first online book catalog service that I used.  I found it silly to repeat my information.


Both of these websites are quite amazing.  The thing that I adore about LibraryThing is that I get recommendations, and I can see how other people have rated a book. Personally, I am harsh on my ratings. I am not just rating the story, I am rating the literature.  Since I have a background in literature, I do notice that the books that I gave 2 stars too are often getting 4 stars.


It is a good tool to use with patrons because I can show them how to use the website themselves.  They are able to get quick recommendations on upcoming books and even books that might be similar to the one they just read.  It is also great for me to connect to other youth librarians.  


In terms of the negatives, like flickr, these websites are very time consuming.  It is easy to spend hours updating, creating profiles, tagging information and writing reviews.  Sometimes, it becomes a task and it loses the fun/ease.

Week 1 - Level 4 - Flickr and Blogger - Tags

Lanora's Flickr Account

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April's book pile

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Tags are an interesting tool.  While I do think it makes our lives easier, they can be a pain to use and when you're feeling lazy... it is easy to get behind.  If you look at my Flickr account, you can see that it is mostly librarian related.  I opened up this Flickr account as a tool for a group project during my graduate studies.  It served it's purpose for us because it gave us a place to store our images for our website.

Before that class, I was a heavy Flickr fan.  I have a personal account tagged to only me.  In fact, people cannot view the account unless I grant them access to it.  I have decided to do this because I want my personal life to remain separate from my professional life. 

I do believe using labels and tags are a great organizational tool and a good way to pick up readers.  Readers and viewers can find exactly what they are looking for through tags.  It is also a good way to make online friends.  I say this because Flickr is a social website just like facebook.  It is great way to connect and share your art with people who have the same interest.

Week 1 - Level 3 - Image Generators

So, I am still behind.  I have had a very busy time these last few weeks.  Next week is also a difficult week for me to work on this challenge.  I am determined to finish it though! 

For this challenge, I will be trying out different image generators.

The first website that I am checking out is ImageChef.

Check it out 

As you can see it is a pretty neat tool that allows you to take a basic empty image and add neat words to it.  I decided to go with the check mark and add "check it out" to it.  It seems me that there are a few ways that this website works.  There are either two images going on with one being layer on to up it.  The first image would be the exact words that you want to appear and the second image is the stamp.  I think that this is a great tool to use when trying get that visual appeal to younger patrons.  It is an easy tool to introduce children to image editing and generating without intimating them.

Another neat image generator that I tried is the Mosaic Maker by Big Huge Labs. It is another simple and cute tool.  I really like that it does all the work for you.  In the past when I wanted to make a photo mosaic, I would have to use MS Paint or Paint Net.  These can be a pester to use because you have to get the sizing quite right.  Mosaic Maker is neat due to the fact that there are no real photo adjustment issues.  They - the website does all the hard work for you.


I also gave Big Huge Labs' Jigsaw maker a try too. It is another neat tool.  I will be saving Big Huge Labs to my bookmarks for work at and at home. Below are the images that I created using Big Huge Labs.

Meet Chloe -- adding images

Say Hello to Chloe :)

Three years ago, my family and I decided to adopt our first dog.  We were are not quite knowledgeable when it comes to getting a pet.  My mother and I were deathly afraid of dogs, so we decided to adopt a baby.  We adopted Chloe from an agency that saves pregnant dogs called P.U.P., Inc. (protecting unborn pups).

Chloe's 2nd day home

Chloe is now three years old, and she is my best friend.  I adore her even though I'm allergic to her.  She has become part of our family.  My mother and I love her deeply.  I like to believe that she also loves us. :)

Chloe as an adult

Adding photos to blogger is pretty simple.  It allows you to input photos many different ways.  It's easy to find an image of something on the internet, right click and select copy then right click into your blog and select paste.  As I have done with the image below: 

Adopt this puppy here! **update: adopted!**
 Photo by P.U.P.S.

What I like about blogger is that you can use your own images from your computer or from your internet photo album.  It's a lot of fun.

My first post

So, I am behind an entire week.  I managed to forget that it was supposed to start last week.

For this blog, I will be posting my CSS Tech Challenge experiences.  I have had blogs on and off for about 15 years now.  My first blog was back when "Livejournal" was popular.  Blogger really makes introducing blogging quite simple.  It's easy to start a blog with them because they have select templates.  What I like about Blogger is that they always seem to give you the option to "upgrade" your look and ideas.

Currently, the only blog that I keep steady is a personal one that I do not give out to people.  It's more of a personal journal and a record of my feelings.  It gives me the option of having the opportunity to share it with others if I want or it gives me the chance just to have a record of my experiences.

I can see blogs being helpful from a librarian point of view.  It's easy for me to say that it is a great personal tool to reach out to your youthful patrons; however, it's a great tool to reach out to your other peers and coworkers.  It gives almost an instant feed back as to what works for someone and what doesn't.

The most difficult task about keeping a blog though is making that commitment.  It can be difficult to constantly keep up and communicating back and forth becomes a task instead of something enjoyable.  It is also easy to offend someone if you tend to make your voice a bit more personal.

Besides personal friend blogs, I am a huge fan of Nina Paley.  Her blog can be viewed here.  I have been following her for quite some years now either by reading her blog or on facebook.  She is a great artist and pro-free-information-activist.  I have had the pleasure of meeting her after her release of her animated movie "Sita Sings the Blues."

Another blog that I follow is the Ikea Hackers. It is a great DIY blog that explores different "house" projects that every day people make.  If you're like me and enjoy taking things apart to make something different, then you'll enjoy creative projects.