Sights of Minnesota, Tractor parade in Henderson MN. @Sauerkraut Days June 2008

What is RSS? Its step #3 23 things on a stick

RSS allows you to subscribe to online news and updates that are important to you. Once you subscribe to a source, you no longer need to visit that individual web site to check for updates... the updates come to you. Searching or browsing the web is a good way to locate sources initially, but once you've located them there is no need to return to them over and over. If they offer an RSS feed, all you need to do is subscribe.

TIP: Subscription, by the way, is FREE.

http://www.infinitethinking.org/2007/04/it-really-is-really-simple-rss-for.html
http://feeds.feedburner.com/itm

#2. Scotties & Web 2.0

What is Web 2.0 and Why Should I Care?

Had time to digest Steve Abrams, and John Blyberg. Took a few side trips with the links set up in the articles and found it was worth while to drop in on Michael Wesch's (Assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas) U Tube video on Web 2.0. then I took another side trip and find my son’s Scotties movies on U Tubes …. “Scotties of Maine” and “The Scottie Ninja.” …..–(got to check out Eden Prairie Library’s U-tube video) heard about it at the MLA conference.

Social networking is a great way to market libraries and make a connections. John’s suggestion of rearranging the budget to hire a coder instead of hiring another ref. librarian brings home the cost of getting involved with new technology with limited resources and how do you sell that to local finance committees.

The excitement of being a librarian is that you never cease to learn, but frequently we are playing catch up. It is important to learn about social networks and have a presence in these spaces but when the discussion begins about losing the teen and young adult from the library I have to hesitant before I can fully agree.

Life goes in cycles, if you were lucky you have a parent or a daycare provider who took you to story times, and signed you up for the summer reading programs. As a teen and young adult going to a library drop off but when that same young adult begins parenthood they come back.

Today when I talk to patrons I ask why do they come, aside from their love of reading they come for the social interaction, and opportunity to be part of the community. Its the village thing!

It is now 4:32 and have updated profile moving onto step two.

Uploaded a picture of the harbor in Maine

Avatars

Avatars.....complete and fun. What was interesting was that my avatar was installed in my yahoo e-mail account with out me doing a thing. I ended up exporting or downloading to the desktop so I could keep the avatar for other uses. Will move it over to my picture file.

Creating the account 101

Although its below freezing it is amazing how your temperature can rise when using a computer...got hung up on acceptable addresses, can't believe no one used 23 sticks as an address but it is mine now!