Method # 4

This method was about RSS Feeds, which I didn’t know much about. When I created our library department blog last year, we couldn’t quite get a RSS Feed to work. Instead, the employees would all get an e-mail of the actual post. Hmm…if I were to do it today, I now know you have to put a feed button on the blog.

I’m a bit more confused since I’ve noticed there is a RSS Feeds button in our library e-mail provider (Outlook) that do not reflect any of the Google Reader feeds I added. Different programs, perhaps?

The concept of having RSS Feeds is an interesting idea. Instead of having to go out and visit favorite sites the Google Reader shows all updates. I like the feature that can show either the oldest or the newest post, which is handy.

But, I don’t know if I’d use it that much. The videos emphasized the convenience and time-saving element but I think the Reader itself is pretty ugly, presenting every post in boring white background. Since I have an art blog at home, I like to visit original sites, see the design of the blogger, use interactive features such as the Comments, find a particular post in the Archive, see interesting sidebars, and check out the blogger’s Blog List that often shows a thumbnail of another blogger’s newest painting or art work. So, Google Blogger might indeed save time but for the visually-inclined, it is a dull screen show.

Here are three I tested in Google Reader:
http://www.unshelved.com/
http://www.ibiblio.org/secretlibrary/slwu/
http://myhandboundbooks.blogspot.com/

Method # 3

Reading about computing in the clouds, I think that storing your files where you can access them anywhere is a radical shift—instead of software strictly on your hard drive computer, you can put your documents, spread sheets, and video out into space, in a cloud.

If my library were to adopt this in the future, there might not be any need to buy expensive software for each machine. Staff would be trained to learn the new cloud concepts and storage. But, would software companies go out of business or shift from producing expensive software to cloud-based space and software? Would computer techies now become savvy about retrieving your floating documents?

The whole concept keeps moving technology to the point where it’s untethered.

Untethered. That word has reverberated in my skull since I’ve begun this program. Like an astronaut taking a space walk, but without his umbilical cord, floating along, hopefully with powerful space jets to get him back to the safety of ship.

If you are over 40, you've had to constantly deal with change and upgrades. Just look at computer storage devices: 8” floppy, 3.5 floppy, Zip drive, USB, and now large-capacity external hard drives. You realize kids today are not tethered like we were. Instead of having to use a home telephone at the exact spot where it was hardwired (before the portable clips and wires were invented, allowing you to unplug and re-plug in a different room), they have always known about cell phones. Instead of having to use a record player or stereo plugged into a wall, they can carry tunes in their MP3, iPod, or Blackberry, or iPhone. Instead of having to use either a portable or electric typewriter, they can type on laptops or text on phones. Instead of needing an expensive and heavy Betamax machine with large blank tapes to either record programs off the air from a handful of commercial channels or buy pre-recorded movies, they can see digital commercial shows as well as tons of amateur videos (YouTube) on their choice of portable device or online computer.

A pattern emerges when new technology is developed: the latest device is unveiled and hailed, it is very expensive, people rush to buy it, the price drops, more can afford it, it becomes commonplace and is absorbed into the culture, and it becomes obsolete. Then the pattern repeats.

Today, we live in a science-fiction world. Untethered. Portable. All-in-one device. Freeing up where and when you can do certain activities. Untethering allows you to take your phone, e-mail, music, videos, GPS maps, etc. with you when you travel across town or around the world. Incredible!

Some of the articles and comments about cloud computing point out the risks of putting valuable documents out there in space. Along with teaching new software and storage methods, a library needs to balance instructions with warnings about cloud computing. Like any new technology, the positive and negatives will emerge as it becomes used or discarded.

So, will this become a viable alternative to commercial software tethered to one or a network of computers? Will it become safe and stable? It seems there are more questions than answers at this point. Only time will tell.

Methods 1 and 2

“A Dozen Ways to Two-Step, Essential Web 2.0 Training for Texas Librarians” is a work program I am participating in. This blog is one of the results. Of all the introductory material, my favorite was the YouTube The Machine is Us/ing Us (Final Version) by Michael Wesch, showing vividly how the information world is undergoing a radical shift.

What does this mean for my library? It means our primary users, college students, view technology in ways we never did. Instead of just books and magazines and visual aids of the past, the library is a wired, humming archive of activity. Online, students can read articles, search the catalog, instant message a question to a librarian, borrow books from other libraries--all from the comfort of their laptop!

It also means circulation of old-fashioned books is down, purchase of traditional books is down, and things will not be the same. Indeed, the livelihood of library staff could be threatened. This was clear in our meeting last week when our supervisor showed us graphs marking this downward swing. As a bookkeeper who pays for all library materials, I have seen annual increases in online products and services but had not marked the slump in book purchases.

There were two article and two videos in the introductory material. Not surprisingly, I related more to the visual presentations. This is a departure since most of my life I was an avid reader and writer. But becoming an artist several years ago has changed the way I see.

Just as I have changed, so too are libraries. Physically, they are responding to the need for more computers, for wireless connections, for food and drink purchases, for study groups rooms, for more comfortable seating, for the most up-to-date software and services. When I began working at my library, 16 years ago, a few librarians were openly hostile to evolving new technology. As new devices and web tools leap ahead so fast, it may be hard for older workers to understand much less catch up with. But, as these articles and videos prove, we need to embrace the change. Otherwise, we might get left behind.