Pandora and streaming music

This was an interesting assignment. I set up several stations for myself, including Norah Jones, Eagles, classic pop, and "The Long and Winding Road." One part that I find especially useful is the "Why is this song playing?" feature, which gives detailed descriptions of aspects/features of the songs played. I wish, though, that there was a way to tell the length of the song as it's being played (well, perhaps there is, but I didn't find it easily). If I'm already familiar with the song, I don't need to listen to it in its entirety, but pandora has limits on the number of songs you can skip per hour. I also wish there was a rating scale rather than simply a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down."

I hope to explore more streaming music sites on my own time. I really didn't explore the social aspects of music sites for this assignment, and that would be interesting too. I'm glad I had the chance to do this, and I think some of our patrons would enjoy it too.

Photos! Photos! Photos!

I explored flickr by searching for "Catch the Reading Bug," the 2008 nationwide cooperative summer reading program for kids. I found many photos of children's activities at libraries, and I was inspired that the library staff had time for the activities and also to promote them on flickr. The photo on the right shows children at the Glenwood Branch of the Greensboro Public Library in Greensboro, North Carolina. I went to library school in North Carolina, and so I feel a special kinship with these people on the opposite end of the continent. They made sparkly cockroaches after listening to the story "Martina, the Beautiful Cockroach."

I had some trouble adding the photos to this post, though. I finally figured out that I was trying to copy the url from the site instead of saving the photo on my hard drive and browsing from there. I tried creating several drafts over the last week, but this is the first time I've been able to get it to work.

I also found an interesting set of photos posted about a puppet show called "Swazzle's Space Bugs Alpha." They are posted by Steve of Barstow, CA. The red puppet shown on the left above is called "Starfly." Of course adding this photo didn't work the way I intended either. I thought it would show up in another paragraph below the first photo. No time to mess with it now though.

Exploring flickr was fun. I can see uses for this in library work and in my personal life. It was frustrating to try to figure out what I did wrong in uploading the photos when it should probably have been so easy. But there's a learning curve, and I'm on my way now to figuring it out.

Online applications & tools

To complete this assignment, I've tried using Google docs in both my business and my personal life. It seems to have applications in both. I created a draft of storytime descriptions for the fall calendar and sent copies to two of my co-workers. For some reason, my document was labeled in a spam blacklist, but they were able to read it anyway. I think that using Google docs is especially useful for those times (hopefully few and far between) that I'm working on a work document from home. I could add new thoughts and also be assured that others would be able to read it even if I have a different software version than they do. It was fascinating to read about the ways that people use Google docs in their online tutorial.

I also tried creating an abbreviated spreadsheet using Google docs. I had some of my usual troubles with creating spreadsheets, which are probably related more to my skill level than to the application. For example, once I clicked out of a cell, I couldn't find a way to get the cursor back to add more text; I had to take everything out and rewrite it. But I think this would be a great way to try out creating a catalog for our church library, so of course that's something I'll work on at home.

I went to zoho.com and was very interested to see the array of applications they offered. I looked at a few of them briefly but found it difficult to navigate around in the files. I will spend more time looking at the options of my own time, because it looked very useful and cool. All in all, I enjoyed working on this lesson, and I think there are some ways to apply what I've learned to my work life and also to my personal life.

Fun and games

For this assignment, I started out playing daily jigsaw because the daily crosswords and sudoku wouldn't load after several tries. I'm not fond of jigsaw puzzles, but I did a couple and found that they make a satisfying sound when the pieces fit correctly. If only RL could offer the same! When a puzzle is complete, the game makes more triumphant sounds, and there are stars, flashing lights, etc.

I also played Wordsense with some success but was terribly slow at Word Roundup--slower than usual when I'm looking for scrambled words on paper. I completed the Hollywood Jumble on George Clooney, with quite a bit of help from imdb.com. I can see why some people enjoy games. It's nice to have the tools needed to meet challenges and to get rewards fairly quickly after meeting your goals. It would be nice if we could have something similar in the workplace--like the triumphants sounds of the daily jigsaw or virtual (or actual) doughnuts or stickers or other small prizes. In addition, I've heard that many people who are regular gamers aren't as afraid of failure as some others because there's usually an option to try again.

It was good to have a chance to explore some of these simple games. I'm better prepared to make suggestions to customers who are looking for games, especially parents who are looking for games for their children to play. I noticed that on funbrain.com there's an online version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which some kids might enjoy looking at while they wait for the book (about 100+ holds as of 5 pm today). So I'll suggest it the next time I get a request.

Google maps

This assignment was a lot of fun for me--I've always loved maps, perhaps because I'm directionally challenged. Up until now, I haven't worked a lot with the navigation features on electronic maps, but I have to say that I think Google Earth is very cool! It took me a while to figure it out, so I did some of the tutorials. I zoomed in on my house (yes, I had some privacy concerns, but at least the features are somewhat flattened and not too distinct). It was really interesting to look at my neighborhood too, and to note how much it's already changed since December 31, 2006, when the satellite pictures were taken. I also looked at the inn in Cannon Beach, Oregon, where my husband and I went for our honeymoon. It was a bit harder to recognize some of the places there than it was in my own neighborhood, but it too was helpful. I can see myself living vicariously at the Grand Canyon and lots of other spots until I can save up for an actual trip.

I think this will have applications for my work at the reference desk, and I'll be sure to recommend it to some of our patrons, especially those who would be able to download the program at home. And even though I expected it to be cool, I was surprised by the way it works and the things you can do. I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to explore this program in an in-depth and uninterrupted way!