Learning?

Summer is a hard time to focus on learning. I am the only librarian on staff and am responsible for all programming, all budgeting, and more. We ran a summer reading program for three groups this summer, children, teens and adults. I also have staff that have been around for a long time and they get a lot of vacation, so we have been short-staffed most of the summer. I haven't done much more than arrive at work and sort through the piles to decide what must be done today and begin tackling that, only to be interrupted and distracted and pulled away over and over. I reach the end of the day and see how close I came to accomplishing what must be done and deciding what still needs to be done and what can be skipped.

Diane

Thing 47 - Evaluation

I finished! Just barely. This was enjoyable. I wish I could have had time to start earlier and do fewer per day. My schedule this spring due to things beyond my control both at home and work just didn't allow for a leisurely stroll through "More things on a Stick". I really enjoy learning and most of the things were fun to learn about.

I enjoy learning and challenging myself. I know things aren't going to get any better with the unallotments so I just need to be realistic and not try and take on any additional classes for the next year or so. I will be doing good to keep the library open and helping patrons.

It isn't a time for entrenchment but learning will need to be "on demand" not leisurely things I want to learn as can. I will keep a list of things I encounter that I want to learn more about and hopefully can slowly work through that.

I definitely want to work on screencasting. I think that might be the most valuable piece learned in "more things". I'd like to train a staff member to create a variety of "sessions" for patrons on the things the library does online.

Lots of opportunities out there. I just need to figure out how to take advantage of the best ones. It is so easy to get stuck in a rut, especially when you are busy and not challenge the status quo.

To challenges!

Diane

Thing 46 - Minnesota Webjunction

I like Web Junction and Minnesota Webjunction. I sometimes have a hard time moving around and finding stuff. I have begun using it more as the Association for Rural and Small Libraries has a larger presence on Webjunction. So much of what I found at first was geared to large libraries and I suspect that is because they had the staff or the time to utilize the resource.

I did a rural library seminar through webjunction. I have looked at the classes and found some good ones. But at this point in time, I recognize that I don't have the time to commit and haven't had the need to make it a priority. I really enjoyed the "things on a stick" and being forced to finish. My desire to finish is too strong to not finish, even if I take it to the very last day.

I posted twice with questions and didn't receive answers so either I was doing new stuff or no one saw the questions and I'm not sure which. I keep wanting to add it to my list of regular stops on the Internet so I haven't been much help to others, so can't expect others to help me.

I always find good information even when I don't find what I'm hoping to find. Of course at the moment I can only remember one of the questions I wanted answered and we just went ahead and did what we thought would work and it has so far. (I wanted to know if anyone had any advice about circulating laptops to the public for use, we have done it now for 2 years.)

Diane

Thing 45 - The Cloud

Fascinating and wonderful ideas. I like the idea of having access to information anytime, anywhere. But also like being able to get away, I don't have a cell phone and thus far haven't had a problem with that as I don't want to always be reached.

I also think that I'll let others experiment and figure out a secure system before I jump on the band wagon. I do think I can do things for the library to encourage use. I am also going to have to work with staff on being a bit less neanderthal and work with patrons on "responsible" use of cell phones instead of outright banning. I think we need to go back to our basic behavior policy and if you are bothering others then we ask you to step outside. If you can use the phone without bothering others then I don't care if you use it. I have a couple of staff who seem to hate the idea of anyone using cell phones period. It has been a huge uphill battle to work with them and get them to be polite. But especially with the advent of "smart" phones that carry some people's life on them, we need to work with and not against patrons.

Diane

Thing 44 - The Economy

A very good posting. Covered lots of information in a presentable manner. Lots of good resources listed.

I am part of a family that considers itself very frugal. We do very well on little more than a single income with a kid in college. We have always found ways to stretch our dollar and was very glad to see many of the tips we have followed for years listed on various sites.

I really liked the Say It Visually video and the Good Magazine chart of the financial situation. Both did a very good job of easily explaining what has happened. I'd love to see them updated.

MyMoney.gov is an excellent site that I have used a number of times. It helped us when we got ready to buy our first home and had all sorts of questions about what mortgages were and how they worked.

Mint.com looks impressive. As a family we have created many of the same features using non-cloud programs on our computer. It might be interesting to have those features available from any machine, but I do find myself hesitant to put all that information out "there."

Feed the Pig is pretty annoying but has good information.

The library recommends FuelEconomy.gov to patrons asking for information about cars. I like the GasBuddy site. I am making a trip this weekend and could figure out where we should get gas this weekend. I'll make use of this site when we travel.

I've used myrateplan.com when we were researching cell phones and actually decided it was still cheaper to keep our land line and TracPhones.

I have an account with FreeCycle and wish I could get more people in my area to join. There aren't a lot of choices or options for getting or getting rid of stuff.
As much as anything, there just aren't a lot of people.

I've used coupons in the past but have found anymore they tend to run for speciality, prepared items not the basics. We have a good garage sale finder in our local paper and that provides more than enough sales to check out when I'm interested.

I use Minnesota gardening and the extension site fairly regularly. I am an avid gardener but am still trying to learn how to garden in a zone 3. I don't do very well and rely on many sites to help me figure out what I'm doing wrong.

I have a number of blogs of gardeners and self-sufficiency advocates that I follow. One of my favorites is "Not Dabbling in Normal". Lots of good ideas, plans, advice.

And my best money advice. Don't spend! Several blogs I follow talk about a month of very limited spending to help reset priorities and habits. They usually do a summer month when they can use their garden for much of their food. The goal is a total of $100 limit per person for the entire month spent on everything except mortgage and utilities.

Diane

Thing 43 Online TV and Video

Again, I wasn't sure what tools would be introduced and thought that I'd probably not be interested. But I am a firm believer in Hulu. This winter was a wild winter with some extra time spent in meetings and stuff for some fundraising with my daughter. I was rarely home and we used Hulu to keep up on our three shows we like to watch each week. All three would be on Hulu within 24 hours of airing.

I think having free on-demand access to TV shows will change the viewing behavior of my family. We don't worry about remembering to tape the show or even be home when it airs. We still tend to arrange a time to watch together but definitely don't feel constrained to when it airs. But we have been using Hulu for 6 - 8 months and don't find ourselves watching more TV or movies. We still have as much on our plate and TV plays a fairly minor role, but it is allowing us to schedule our viewing to when it works for us.

I hope that the free Internet video entertainment offers broadcast or cable TV stations the ability to bring back shows they wouldn't otherwise because of constraints on scheduling (there are only so many hours of primetime). I know that Chuck was slated to be dropped and after word got out, Hulu let people know and the response from the Hulu crowd was overwhelming to keep it. But it aired opposite another "geeky" TV show and so the audience was split. People had to watch one and tape or catch the other later. But like newspapers, broadcast and cable TV will have to adapt and figure out a new way of doing business. It could mean we end up with better stuff or not.

Diane

Thing 42 - Music 2.0

I am not a big music listener. I like a quiet house so have never turned on radios when home. I wasn't sure this would be a very interesting "thing." But, to my amazement, I discovered I'd already been using one of the tools. I have had a Pandora account for a couple of years and when I'm at work and trying to focus on a project (usually writing) I enjoy having Pandora playing.

I also use XM Radio. It was a present from my son to the family several years ago. I don't listen lots but will use it to find music if I want something different than I've set up on Pandora.

I also use iTunes radio. My husband has a station on iTunes called Icebox Radio and it plays the best in new audio drama as opposed to the classic stuff. That is what is playing at our house anytime the radio is on these days.

I haven't had any technical problems but tend to be fairly basic in my listening and once I find something I like I stick with it.

Diane