Blog Post 6 - Frustrations

As the semester is soon coming to an end I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. Deadlines are coming up and I am feeling the crunch! I try and try to manage my time as best as I can and it just seems like I am constantly stressed for time.

Currently I am helping to update the website for my job. I work for IU Northwest Library. I had a bunch of ideas but after talking to the IT folks I learned that those ideas are on hold for a bit. They are going to change the CSS so even if I did make some changes, I would end up having to change it to what is supposed to be “consistency” for the campus. It was a bit of a downer for me because I looked forward to trying out new things to make our site interesting. So for now I just get to reword things and make some other changes here and there to make the site flow a little better. BUMMER!

I really wanted to use the things I have learned over the semester to help bring the library up to par technologically. I mean we are in the business of providing information and our own website is not even up to date? It is frustrating but I understand why some things have to be put on hold. In the meantime I can practice and see if the library will be willing to use my ideas after the style sheets are given to the library.

Blog Post Numero 5

For my entry this week I decided to talk about the different topics that we had to read about for this week: Podcasts and Digital Storytelling. I really have never been into either one to be truthful but I am more familiar with Podcasts. Digital Storytelling was definitely a new technology that I had never heard of. While reading about the storytelling, it made me think of old radio shows and audio books. I am not sure if this is a good way to compare them but that is what I thought of. I thought of old radio shows especially because of the way that the person telling their story is supposed to use different tones and music to make their story more interesting. I can see their value for educational purposes in that libraries could use it as a way to reach out to its patrons that do not come to the library physically. I think depending on the topics being discussed and the messages, podcasts are very useful to get patron involvement.

Digital Storytelling could be a great marketing tool. I believe if anything it could be used to make the library appear more interesting to people because if they listen to the stories told, they may want to come look at an exhibit or speak to a librarian whose shared his or her story regarding a project they have done. I enjoyed learning about both and look forward to doing the podcast for the wiki.

This is completely off topic but I finally signed up for Twitter.com and I find this site a bit addictive. There are quite a bit of celebrities on there talking to people but NPR is also on there and CNN. I like that with short messages and links I can stay informed of things happening in the world. So if anyone is on twitter, feel free to follow me and send me a message. Got to love technology!

Blog Post 4

This week we listened to Dr. Ball's podcast on Privacy and Technology. I want to reflect on this because while I do have a love for technology I still find myself worried about who is checking out my information when I purchase something online or why is it when I am on a social networking site, they are able to know what type of ads to put up to catch my attention. It is neat to notice the ads but at times it is a bit scary too.

While listening to the podcast I began to think about when I buy things online. As a matter of fact I love buying things online. I love that I do not have to go to the mall to buy clothes. I love that I do not have to deal with fellow shoppers with attitude or road rage! Truth be told, if I could I would buy toilet paper online and just have it delivered but the shipping and handling fee stops me from doing so! I think you get the point.

On the flipside, I know some people who just refuse to succumb to the ability to shop without leaving their home because they fear that their information will get hacked into and just like on the television commercials regarding identity theft and credit fraud, another person will be running around the world pretending to be Joe Schmoe or Mary Smith while having a shopping spree on the real Joe or Mary. I understand the fear, because like them, I have that fear too. I know it happens, but I think I value the convenience and take the risk. It allows me to be lazy every once in a while! At the same time I have had countless discussions about the reality that people can get their information in other ways and not just from the internet. They still are not convinced of using the internet nor are they convinced of the fact that people can get your information without getting online to www.buythisnow.com.

I do value my privacy, but I do think that we sign it away whenever we sign up for things because we are allowing organizations to peer into our lives and study us. They have been doing it for quite some time even before all this new technological advances were around.

Is it a bad thing? Depends on what the information is being used for and who is accessing it. It can be good in the sense of medicine because if I have heart problems I want people to be able to find me if I am having a heart attack and I am alone. If a chip inside of my shirt can help someone bring medical assistance to me, then I have no problem with my information being accessed! It is a bad thing if the information that is being accessed is used for others to try and profit off of me or scam me in some way or form. It is bad if a hacker is the one accessing my information because they will create that other Raquel Lopez and go on a shopping spree courtesy of me!

With regard to libraries, privacy is a big issue. We are in the business of providing technology but at the same time we protect our patrons. If we continue to advance technologically, are we going to be able to protect our users as we do now? What measures do you think can be taken to continue that? That is something we all should be thinking about as we continue on our career paths as librarians.

Just some thoughts on Technology ...S554 Blog post 3

I really do not have a lot to share this week on technology because I had a hectic week! But one thing that did fascinate me while I was back and forth to the hospital to visit my mom while she was there for a week is how connected people are now. I remember when hardly anyone had cell phones and now I walk around seeing kids as young as 10 with cell phones texting to their little hearts' desires! Perhaps I was also thinking about this because I had to work on webpages for my Information Architecture class and I am learning about the different formats for different things and one of them includes formats for cell phones.

I am the first to admit I am addicted to my Blackberry which I have nicknamed my red crackberry but I never really stopped to consider the design aspect in creating every single page to be viewable on that little gadget. I am someone who constantly checks her Facebook through her phone, but I guess now I understand what goes into making that site work. I think technology can be so amazing but yet at the same time I have to ask are we going to get to a point where it will be overkill?

I hope not because for me I will always get excited at any new technology. I love that libraries are always on the verge for the newest and latest technology. Right now at my library we are starting to create things like Wikis and Blogs and I was asked to help out with implementing that. I think anything I learn from class is going to help so I look forward to working on this wiki project because it will help me with my current job. I will be able to teach some of my coworkers.

Dealing with changes...(S554 blog post 2)

Having class through Adobe Connect last week was such an interesting experience for me. I have used it once before in a class but I was never able to participate in the actual class because the meeting time was when I was working. So the only experience I had was being able to view slides and listen to what was discussed during the time slot because it had been recorded as a file. This was an all new experience to use it live so I was definitely excited to use the software.

Out of the entire session, the part that captured my eye was the whiteboard because I see that this could be used to take notes for meetings. I think this will be a great tool for when we are in the teams for this course, especially for students who live far away from each other and have to work on the projects together. I see this software's benefits.

The downside, the inability to see a person's facial expressions if they do not have a web camera. While people can use the microphones, I think you would still not be able to fully capture their reactions to things being said.

The discussion regarding integrated systems was an eye opener for me because while I have used the software Sirsi Dynix, I did not know exactly what was going on when I was a library assistant in the Circulation department at IU Northwest. Being able to look at it from the inside out in our discussion, helped me to realized what I had been doing all those years I worked at the Circulation Desk during my undergraduate years at the library.

I also learned just what exactly OPAC was. So many times I would hear people say "OPAC" this and "OPAC" that but I just never really knew what it was. To be quite honest I believed it was a database and not the entrance for the database. To find out that it was not an actual database was also an eye opener for me during our class discussion.

With regards to blogs and RSS, I used the feature before but seeing the actual coding for it, I did realize that the setup is that of a webpage. In the past when I used RSS, I was not sure if I was mistaken so reading that it is just that, my confidence was raised in that I guess all those years of making pages for the Electronic Reserves paid off a bit.

For me that is the stuff that sparks my interest. I wouldn't mind knowing more about coding because I like learning the backbones to how things work online. I like being able to see how if I add something, what is the finished product, you know? Call me a geek, but that is what I have always liked.

After reading a bit of the Oncourse assignment I realized that I am comfortable with change to an extent. I like change when I see that implementing a new method or technology makes my life easier. If something has more steps, I will admit I will put up a bit of a fight in accepting the change that is beginning at work.

S554 Blog Post 1

After having the first class last week and learning about what will happen I am pretty excited. I guess I can say I am a fan of technology so I look forward to learning in this class. I want to learn as much as I can about new technologies not only because of the fact I want to be able to land a great job when I am done with the SLIS program, but because I just want to be able to know how to do things. I love to learn new things and once I find out how to do something, I will keep using that and keep pursuing other technology that I have not learned to use.

I am not really nervous about what we are going to have to do, I am actually excited about it.

My one fear is just really more about the team I may be on. I hope that we will all be able to work together. I have done group projects and for the most part they have been successful except that sometimes one person may not work as hard as the rest of the group. That can be frustrating especially since you cannot make an adult do something they really just do not want to do. The end result is that everyone else carries the weight while this one person did the minimum, if even that. So I do hope that the groups won't run into that problem.

I may be alone in this next thought but I am curious to know what exactly we are going to have to do for this class. I guess I am a bit anxious to find that out and see where we should be at different points throughout the class. I hope we will get enough details throughout our journey in this class.