Google Docs

This is what happens when you have your nose to the grindstone (read office desktop) and don't have the opportunity to Learn & Play like we have had in the past few months. I have worked on several projects in the past few months where having Google Docs up and running for same would have been such a boon. (love that word) And that fact that you can email documents to the account for uploading and work is just way cool. Many projects are winding down now because of the end of the year, and those fateful performance appraisals, but I'm looking forward to using Google Docs in 2009. The simplest advantage will be not having to create a document, then email it out to everyone for comment or changes, and then have them email it back and incorporate those changes. We also won't have to come from all over the county for a group work meeting - saving time and gas. We set up our phones for a conference call, put them all on speaker, and then we all log in and we can complete in an afternoon, what used to take a week or more. Does this mean I'll actually be more productive at work? Don't let Admin. know.

Adding to Learn & Play wikis

It's fun to add stuff; favorite titles, movies, music, etc. After all we all like to talk about ourselves. But really I find it much more interesting to read what everyone else has written. Agree or disagree, it's one of the reasons I've always liked working in the public library - there is just such a variety of opinions, all of them well thought out - or not.

Wiki, wiki

Doesn't the word even sound fun? Wiki, wiki, wiki... I think this is a great concept, and really like what someother libraries are doing with it. And I am really looking forward to our own CML Reader's Advisory Wiki. Because of my job responsibilties I don't have time to do the reading I used to, and I'm really hoping that the building of this RA wiki will point me towards the stuff I really, really want to read, and hope that this same wiki will be accessible by our customers. I see us reaching beyond simple online training for our customers, and showing them how to access wikis that we may have developed ourselves, or with community partners.

Library 2.0 for L&P

I've been fascinated by what computers and technology can do for libraries since I started work back in the mid-1980's, when I dragged my Brother WP into work to use instead of that stupid electric typewriter. Am I embracing Lib 2.0? I did, and am incredibly excited that our library system has recognized the necessity. M. Stephen's statement of making the library a social and emotionally engaging center for learning and experience is just so right, and that we should be trendspotters "reading outside the profession and watching for the impact of technology on users and new thinking on business." Right on, brother! (Preaching to the choir) People in the library profession have for so long held the belief that it was we, really, who knew what people needed. It was difficult for so many librarians to switch to the "give'em what they want" idea in the early 90's, and many are probably reviling the need to move so quickly into the future and respond so quickly to what we anticipate our customers will use. It's a good time for those librarians to retire, and tell stories of the good ol' days. We know that those old fashioned libraries had to change, that we had to really redefine our concept of what a library is. Funding problems emphasized that. A library is not just a building with a collection of books, or other media. It is simply (or not) a concept of the exploration and access to human knowledge and information. The easier it is to access and spread knowledge, the better we've done our job.

I am remodeling my office

Instead of being a good CML worker, and trying to finish my Learn & Play by next week, so I can get that marvelous CML flash drive!...I am reverting to nature and procrastinating. I'm remodeling my office. This place is so small we needed a conference area for two to four people to get together, and my office was the last holdout for space. I had the original office desk taken out and am now working on a small table with my laptop. The phone is hung on the wall, I have weeded my paper files down to almost zero, and the Container Store has provided me with some multi-functional drawers to keep things like pencils and pens, and post-its in. We've added a small octagonal table for conferences, and I rescued 4 wooden chairs from the warehouse. PM has said it may be possible to repaint before Christmas, as I have a lot of repair patches on the walls. I've also purchased a lovely quilt off EBay which will match the color on my office walls, beautifully. The quilt will match the theme of the branch, which already has several art quilts on its walls. It will be sooo cool, and I just KNOW I'll be more productive in the long run. Don't you think?

10 Random Facts About Me

I have taken up the HB challenge....as it were.

1. I grew up in International Falls, MN, a small town on the U.S.- Canadian Border. It is often mentioned on the Weather Channel. It holds the official title of "Icebox of the Nation." It was portrayed as Frostbite Falls on the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Yes, it was cold and there was a lot of snow. But one dealt with it, and we didn't have many snow days. Winters were glorious; white and crisp, and summers non-humid and mid-70's. We had Rainy River (glacier fed) and the lakes for boating, water skiing and fishing. Many nights we could see the Aurora Borealis. It's a wonderful, friendly little town.

2. I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. While I just discovered this a little over a year ago, it has explained so many things about my personality and behavior. Some people advise that mentioning something that is a recognized disability will keep my career stalled. Hah! Don't care. I'm not afraid to take a risk, I'm creative, and I can think outside of the box like nobody's business. ADHD may have a downside, but it really has an upside. To keep it simple, it has to do with dopamine transporters and receptors in the brain. Don't you love it when it really, truly isn't your fault?

3. I LOVE dark chocolate, and especially frozen 3 Musketeer bars. I really, really dislike milk chocolate. I'm not a big sugar buff, but give me fresh bread and hot butter, and I swoon..

4. I am a very good photographer. I've been told I have a talent for it. Personally, I don't see it, I just do it - I like how it turns out.

5. I've encountered only one famous person: Tom Baker, the fifth Doctor Who. The weekend before I came to Columbus and to work for CML (Feb 1985), I attended a Dr.W convention in Champaign, IL. I have a picture somewhere.

6. I once called my mother from a non-collecting pay phone (only phone in the village) from a mountaintop in France, and the first words out of her mouth after I said hello, was "Are you in jail?" Odd, since I've never been in jail.

7. If I couldn't have made it as a librarian, I would have been a landscape architect.

8. My first car was a jacked up Plymouth Fury III, formerly a state patrol car. And yes, I was known to drag race a couple of times. Nothing like having a car full of girls, and outdistance a couple of unsuspecting guys at a stop light. Do remember this was over 40 years ago.

9. My most productive hours are from 10:00 until 2:00. I have never been an early morning person. Catch me when I come in to work, and you'll know it is true. I need at least two cups of strong coffee to 'wake me up.'

10. I married a CML security officer. Our first date was the Christmas performance of The Nutcraker Ballet. We were engaged by Valentine's Day. He had to ask the director at the time if it was ok for us to get married. The director said we'd make a cute couple. How embarassing. But at least we didn't have to get permission from the Board, as was previous policy. However, I did hear later that the Board also gave their informal permission. There was a cartoon drawn about it in the staff newspaper. I still have it somewhere.

That's it, folks. Now you know everything about me.

When I'm wrong, I'm wrong

OK, I like Twitter...alot. With just a little encouragement I could become a Twitter addict. There's talk around CML about starting a Twitter Addict Support Group. I may be in line. I guess what it does is give me a sense of community. Last night, while supervising my daughter's homework, I tweeted back and forth about the election, and what was happening, and people's thoughts. It made me feel connected in a small non-overwhelming way. I could walk away from it when it was time to go to bed, and I could answer anything as I chose or chose not to. My DH is planning on buying me a BlackBerry Storm, and that may just push me over the edge into Twitter-fanaticism.