Databases

First off the answers to the questions...

10a) e-mailed ...I used Academic Search Premier and just searched "constitution"

10b) March 18, 2008; 4 sons...I used the Courier Journal database and searched for her name.

10c) For this I used the Journals/Magazines/Newspapers search. For the titles, there was a column to the right that told if they were full text or not.

Telos: no

British journal of history and philosophy: yes

Clinical medicine and research: yes

11a) Stewardship rating: B, manager: Duane Kelly; Morningstar rating: four stars...I used the Morningstar database and searched for it.

11b) see previous post...I used the Consumer Search database to find the article.

11c) I was surprised that we have 30 Starbucks in Louisville. It seems like in larger cities, there's one on every corner, but I guess Louisville has reached "big city" status with that many. But, once you think about the locations of every Starbucks you know, it does add up quickly. I also didn't realize there are 9 Heine Brothers in town (mmm...Heine Bros!).

For the 40202 zip code, Starbucks is definitely the biggest competitor, having 3 in the zip code. There are also 2 Dunkin' Donuts. If you were looking to open a chain they might offer up hefty competition, however if you were looking to open a local establishment, you might do well as there are 5 local coffee shops in the area (my personal favorite being Mrs. Potters!)

Also, if you wanted to open a local coffee shop, the Highlands (40204) would be a good area because there's only ONE Starbucks there (huzzah!) and the rest are local places. The Highlands Hippies/Hipsters like to support local and they like their coffee so it would probably be good business.

Moving on...I took the opportunity to explore almost all of the databases. Though I've used it before, I still love Novelist. I frequent the site often personally and I recommend it to patrons all the time. I also like the PVA website. It's fun to be nosey and see what your neighbors' or relatives' houses are worth. :) I definitely think we should be telling people about CQ Researcher more, especially students having to write a persuasive paper. Ohh, and the Learning Express Library! Who knew you could practice for the cosmetology exam online?!

This is a total cop-out, but I really don't know what database I would choose if we could only keep one. There are so many out there that offer such a variety of information from fixing your car to business statistics. I guess I would say that one of the encyclopedias would be the best to keep since it's got a little bit of information on most everything.

Getting to explore the databases was definitely a fun experience and I learned more about the vast number that we have. Talking about them even got my husband excited about logging on from home to look into some of them. Hopefully when patrons ask questions, I will remember what database to suggest, but if not I'll definitely be able to help them find the best source to use!

23things number 11b

Could have saved it, copied and pasted it, or even tweeted it, but since I had to blog about the article anyway, I took the easy way out and went ahead and used the "more" tools to blog the article I found. :)

Consumer Reports Electronics Blog: CES 2009 preview: Better LCD sets

Still Playing...Still Learning...Still Flickring

Lowenbrau Keller
Originally uploaded by scskillman329

This is one of the pictures I uploaded to Flickr. (I stole it from my other blog since I deleted my facebook account and didn't have any of my own pictures to access). It's in front of the Lowenbrau Keller in Munich Germany. If you want to see exactly where it was, check out my map!

Yes, we are wearing pants and long sleves at the end of July! They had mild temperatures and absolutely no humidity, one of the many reasons I wouldn't mind moving there, or anywhere in Europe really.

That's my hubby Andrew. He's a goofball, which is why I love him.

I'm still trying to figure out how to share multiple pictures in a set at once on the blog. I'll figure it out eventually. :)

Flickr fun

I had created a Flickr account a few years ago after going to Europe. I'd planned to utilize the service by uploading my 4000 + photos that I took, but ended up uploading a good portion of them to Facebook instead. It's a lot of work to upload 4000+ photos and the task of having to do it again seemed daunting, so I never really looked at the site again until this week.

As a search tool, Flickr is really cool. I searched for my favorite spots in Louisville (Cherokee Park, Cumberland Brew Co, the various libraries ;), UofL, etc). I also searched for things that I reminisce about when it comes to my travels (my favorite results being Pizza Pot Pie in Chicago, Harry Potter in London [a popular location for that search was the Ledenhall Market, which was used in the films as Diagon Alley...I MUST go back to see this!], the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and tacos in San Diego...yes, I may have been hungry when I did my searching!). The photos that are geotagged on the site are really neat and lead to other things to search for. I am an addict when it comes to taking pictures, especially when I travel, so I could spend days just looking at pictures that others have taken.

The only photo sharing questions that I have gotten have been about uploading pictures to facebook, but Flickr could be a good reference tool if someone needs a photo of, say, a park in Louisville. For more localized photos Flickr would be great instead of searching for images on google or on one of our databases.

I uploaded a few pictures to Flickr and, though it tries to be, I don't find it very user-friendly. For example, I added my blog to it so I could just write this entry from the site and share my photos. I went to a few other places on the site and then I couldn't find my blog. I also made a map and geotagged some photos, but my photos did not show up on the world map, even when I adjusted my security settings and whatnot.

It's not very exciting, I have two pictures from Fairdale and one in Germany, but if you want to check it out, here is my map that I made.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/29342321@N02/map?&fLat=43.1267&fLon=-37.1017&zl=16&order_by=recent


Mobile uploading was kind of a pain...I guess since Flickr is owned by Yahoo! it doesn't offer an app for Android phones. If I wanted to share a picture from my phone, I would probably just upload it to Twitter, Picasa, or my blog because I already have apps that are much easier to use for that purpose. I've also had a photobucket account for years along with winkflash and snapfish. I don't actually order many prints, but I usually use these sites or even Walgreens.com because you can have them printed at your local Walgreens, pick them up within an hour, and not pay shipping. I use this service all the time for my mom because she always complains that I take so many pictures, but she doesn't ever see any. I just have them printed at the Walgreens in Etown and tell her to go pick them up.

I played with some of the sites built around Flickr. The spelling site was kind of neat, though I'd rather take my own photos for such projects. A photo project that I am working on right now is doing just that. I am meandering around Louisville taking photos of objects that make the letters in my last name. Big Huge Labs was fun to play on and had a lot of cool photo mashing tools that I'll definitely keep in mind for Teen Tech Week.

I enjoyed learning about Flickr, but I will definitely stay with Picasa because it is a program that I am used to and more familiar with. Plus, I use Google for just about everything else so it is already linked with my phone, e-mail, etc. I also feel that Picasa offers better photo-editing tools than Flickr did.

Social Networking

Has anyone been on Facebook long enough to remember when it was called The College Facebook? My husband and I have debated whether or not the Social Networking site ever had this title and I distinctly remember when I signed up for it in 2005 or 2006 that was what it was called. If anyone can back me up on this I'd appreciate it! :)

When I first got on Facebook, I loved it. It was a way to reconnect with my friends that I shared a dorm with my freshman year or to find out if the cute guy who sat next to me in my history class was seeing anyone. You could enter what classes you were taking prior to the new semester and see who else you would have that class with. I loved finding friends from high school to see what they were majoring in, who they were dating, whether they're married or have any kids. You could see what your ex was up to and who he was dating. Then you were able to add pictures and update your status and have had graffiti walls and flair (both of which I enjoyed having for a while). But then it snowballed to Mafia Wars, Farmville, Yo Ville, Fishville, Astrology, etc. That's when Facebook became more like myspace. I blocked all of these applications and even weeded through my friends list, but the novelty of it has definitely worn off. I have planned to delete my account for a few months now. Once I found out about the 23 things, I figured there would be some Facebook aspect, therefore I kept it for this purpose. Now that the Facebook task has been completed, my account will be gone within a week.

I become more and more Anti-Facebook by the day. It kills me that so much time is wasted on the library's computers on Facebook when there are people out there who genuinely need to access the Internet to file for unemployment, pay bills, or look for jobs. I even had a 9 year old's mom tell me that her child didn't get on the children's computer because she couldn't access her Facebook. Hmm...don't you have to be 14 to sign up?! I'm probably about to sound stuck up and I sincerely don't mean it that way, but I really wish that Facebook hadn't opened up to everyone. One of the key things that made Facebook different from myspace was because it was for college students. I think they even say that in the movie The Social Network. It was some kind of club you had to have an invite (or a college e-mail address) for. I feel that if you still had to have a college e-mail address to sign up that it would not have been overwhelmed by the "crap" that had overtaken myspace that has turned me off to it.

I heard on the radio recently about colleges setting up Social Networking sites for their students in order to make students feel more comfortable in their college atmosphere and to enhance student life on campus. They can form groups and clubs and let incoming freshmen "meet" their roommates and others in their dorms and classes prior to starting at the school. This is what Facebook was initially set up to do, but it has just become too big, so I think that these colleges and universities are on the right track for creating their own.

Enough of my "anti facebook" rant. The task was to play around with security settings, which I have done quite frequently. I used to be in "Super Ninja Mode" where NO ONE could find me. I would have to seek them out if I wanted to be their friend. I then loosened my settings by letting people at least see my high school, college, and my picture in case there was anyone out there that was like "Oh...I wonder if Stevie is on Facebook." When I was teaching, many of my students would try to friend me and then be sad that I denied their request. I finally set up a myspace specifically for them to add me, but eventually gave in and let them add me on Facebook. They have their own special group (as do my coworkers and some members of my family), where they can't see some of my pictures or my phone number and address, etc.

I think that being able to adjust your security settings for pretty much every friend you have is a nice aspect of most Social Networking sites. In theory it also cuts down on stalkers and Internet predators, however if you were savvy enough you could find loopholes in what people think are security settings. For example, my 15 year old nephew has a facebook and "friends" write on his wall "I think I know you...". He says his basis for adding friends he doesn't know is how many he has in common with someone. So...a person could set up a fake high school account and start friending people. Even if they don't know you for sure they might accept, then others will see that you're friends with people they know and add you and so on. Unless your account is Super Ninja Mode or you are selective about who you allow to be your friend, there is still a way for people who you don't want to see your information to find out about you.

Moving on to Twitter...once I started cutting down on my Facebook use, I became more interested in Twitter (I have to have some mindless entertainment in my life, right?!). I don't follow people I know, but I follow celebrities. And yes, I am one of 7 million to follow Justin Bieber. I also follow authors, School Library Journal, YALSA, Conan OBrien, Anthony Bourdain, etc. I find it interesting to see what celebrities have to say about various things and following SLJ and YALSA are nice to have quick access to their new blogs or book reviews. I set up my account to get a text message from the Harry Potter Films' twitter in order to find out right at that moment when tickets for the new movie will be on sale...true story!

I think I've only tweeted once or twice, but I enjoy the observer aspect more than my own pointless tweets. I found it interesting that on Grey's Anatomy they were tweeting what was going on in the OR and had doctors around the world following them, asking questions, or even giving advice. It made me wonder if hospitals (especially research hospitals, hint hint UofL!) would really be doing that. I haven't gotten a chance to look into that but I think it would be neat, especially since in a past life I wanted to be a surgeon!

Using Twitter as a search engine is also nice. Friday afternoon I searched for Mubarak and got new posts on my phone constantly. As it said on the 23 things website, this would be very handy for patrons when it came to things that haven't made it to mainstream news yet.

I created a LinkedIn account for the "extra credit". I'd heard about it a few years ago when my husband signed up, but I never created an account. I can definitely see how it would be useful for business networking and even seeing what long lost classmates are doing when it comes to their career. (That is, if you maintain your profile...my husband's profile says he still works at a place he worked 2 years ago). I'm not sure if I'll maintain my profile, but it would definitely be a good source if I ever wanted to move to a new city to make business connections prior to moving.

To conclude, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are all definitely great tools for social networking, but, as with anything, you're only going to get out of these websites what you put in. And in the case of Facebook, you'll likely get way more than what you want.

Playing

Playing around with the Blogger app on my phone. Andrew was the closest (and most handsome) test subject :)

Google

I created this blog for work, but plan to utilize it more significantly, not just for the tasks for LFPLs 23things, but for other work-related things such as ideas for storytimes and programs and book reviews.

Google is one of the world's most popular search engines and its logo is becoming nearly as recognizable as McDonald's golden arches. (More specifically I speak of their "normal" logo, when they haven't redesigned it for specific holidays. I had a friend who collected "Googles" and printed them to make a collage. I found this hobby to be quite interesting!) Within the past 5 years or so, it has blossomed into much more than a search engine with free online "services", the most recognizable being Google Docs, Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Books. There are also Google programs that very few people have likely heard of including Google Wave (a file/presentation/game sharing and collaboration program that I think they don't even know what EXACTLY it can be used for) and Google Voice, a program that allows two separate telephones to be reached by dialing only one number. [This has proven to be beneficial to my husband and myself because we don't have a land line. We use it as our "home" number so either one of us may be contacted on our cell phones by giving the one number.] iGoogle is also a very fun and interesting aspect of Google that I enjoy because it's my one-stop-shop for email, stocks, calendar, to do list, news, weather, and tetris. :)

Google has even broken into the mobile phone world with their Android operating system, which is the biggest rival to Apple's iPhone. As an Android owner, I feel that the Android is a smoother operating system, but I could be bias. There are even rumors that they are making their own operating system for computers that will give Microsoft Windows, Mac, and Linux a true run for their money.

Personally, I find Google Docs to be extremely helpful because my computer did not come with Microsoft Office and I am frankly too cheap to purchase it when there are excellent free programs out there. The documents that I create with Google Docs are generally compatible with Office, with only slight formatting issues that can be corrected in minimal time. I feel that this would also be beneficial to patrons for the same reason...the high price of Microsoft Office.

I also love Goggles Picasa photo storage/editor. It has some amazing editing features that are beyond the default Microsoft Photo Editor. The editing features are not as advanced as PhotoShop or something of the like, but for people just wanting to do basic editing such as cropping, color changing, etc., Picasa is perfect. I only wish that they would add a print ordering service to their editor, which would be perfect. This program could be helpful to some patrons for basic photo editing and storage.

Google Maps and Google Earth are also programs that I use very frequently. I love that Maps allows you to see the street view, pick the best walking route, or even the best public transportation route. Earth is an excellent "time-waster" to just get lost looking at various places, or maybe even try to build buildings or add your own pictures. Google Earth also let's you build your own customized maps where you can add pictures from travels or just map out routes that you have taken before and save them. My husband and I have an ever changing map of where we travel to, complete with pictures from the exact locations where we were standing or having dinner. I think that patrons could use Maps for it's basic directions feature in addition to some of the more advanced features.

One Google program that I feel could be beneficial to patrons that I don't personally use on a regular basis is Google Books. One of the best things I like about Google Books is being able to browse free eBooks to download. Since eReaders are becoming much more prevalent in today's society, this is an excellent feature of Google Books.

After perusing Google Patents, Google Scholar, and Google Uncle Sam (Google programs which I didn't know existed), I also feel that these programs would be very beneficial to patrons as well. Especially the patrons who aren't as "search savvy" as others. These programs would give more narrowed search results than just searching through Google.

Google is definitely a household name and has even become a generic word for searching. (People say "Let me Google that" even if they're not using Google, similarly to how people say they drank a Coke even if it was a Pepsi). Googling yourself, a prospective boyfriend or girlfriend, or even a prospective employee has become prevalent in today's society. As far as Goggles reach extends over the Internet and mobile phone world, I estimate that it will only continue to grow in the coming years!