Reflection Blog

Well, this appears to be my final blog for this class. This sure went quickly, I can clearly recall just beginning this blog. Anyway, it's time to list the core competencies for this course that are important to me:

4. Demonstrate basic computer operations needed to access library applications software and productivity tools.

When working in a library that relies heavily on technology, knowing how to access important applications is vital. Knowing how to operate certain databases to help library users find an answer is a useful skill that I have now developed and will benefit me in a career in the library field.

8. Demonstrate the ability to adapt to changes in technology.

 This is important because this competency is vital for the degree that I am going for. If I am unable to adapt to changes in technology, then I will not be able to progress as a librarian in this very technological age.

9. Transfer information gained from training into the work place.

 Without this, I would be virtually useless at my job, at any job for that matter. It is always important to be able to take something away from a learning experience and apply it to a job.


I was able to demonstrate competency 4 through accessing library databases such as Academic Premier and online catalog to library websites. I was able to demonstrate my ability to adapt to changes in technology through  creating accounts on websites that I was unfamiliar with, such as Twitter and even on Blogger. I am able to transfer the knowledge that I have gained here into the workplace by understanding how to fully operate technology in a library setting.

Web 2.0 Project # 3 - LibraryThing Project

     For my third and final project, I chose to check out the website LibraryThing. LibraryThing is basically a virtual library shelf for you to share with hundreds of other users. The user of the website has the ability to participate in book discussions, read book reviews, and post a book review of their own. Not only that, but it is possible to search for any book made on this website, which will give you the details of the book such as who wrote it and when it was published. Here is a link to my profile: http://www.librarything.com/profile/SpencerLitten

A LibraryThing profile is broken down in the following manner:

• Profile Information
• Virtual Library Shelf
• Discussions
• Reviews

When joining LibraryThing, you are given your own profile that contains your very own virtual library shelf. Your shelf contains books that you are reading, having read, and need to read. There is the option to organize them alphabetically or by author. In order to add a book, merely type in the title of the book that you are looking for on the search bar of the website. Then, after finding the title, click the link of the title, and then click on a button with a green plus that says 'add to library.' Above this button is a grid that will say reviews, and then the number of reviews. In order to write a book review, click on the number of reviews, then there should be an option to write a review. In order to contribute to a discussion, under your virtual library shelf in your profile, click on any book that you would like. Under the title of that book will be a link to discussions, where you can contribute. A library could implement this into their community by giving each patron an account, allowing them to track what books they read. 

Web 2.0 Project #2 - Photo Sharing Project

     For my second project to complete my 50 points for the Web 2.0 project, photo sharing was my choice (as you may have obviously seen from my previous pictures.) I have been photo sharing for about two years now, and I find it to be a great form of documentation. I actually have a folder on my hard drive labeled 'My Life', that contains exactly that. I have pictures from at least the past three years of special events, seasons, and anything else marking a chapter in my life. A library could do this is as well. Already, many libraries will have a picture of their library on their website.
     One thing that libraries could do more often is take pictures of events that have occurred and post the pictures on their website. I know many libraries have pictures of the librarians that work there so the users that come in will be able to recognize them. Acquiring pictures for a library can be a very tricky process however, especially if you aren't part of the staff of a library. When I made an attempt to take some pictures inside my library, I was told that it was illegal for me to do and to stop immediately. Personally, a mixture of impatience and laziness would keep me from asking permission to share a photo from someone else, though I know it's the right thing to do.
     Usually the owner of the picture will enable sharing or not on Flickr, which is a very good indication that permission is granted to share. Even so, I think it is mandatory to give credit to the artist. Flickr was the main website that I decided to check out as well as the photo sharing software Picasa. While Flickr is a nice place to post photos, I could see myself using Picasa for just about everything photo related.

Virtual Library Tour

As a part of the Web 2.0 Projects, I made the decision to take part in a photo sharing project. For this, I had to take some pictures of my library and create a virtual tour of sorts. My library is the beautiful Grand Rapids Public Library, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I was able to get some great photos of the outside of the building. Unfortunately, when I entered the building, I was not granted permission to take photos of the inside, so I suppose this virtual tour has a fee of sorts. I compiled my photos into a set on my Flickr account. So, form a single file line for your very own virtual tour of the Grand Rapids Public Library! (sort of)

Twitter Project-Final Blog

Wow, well, it looks like this semester is almost finished for me. For this project, I had to experiment with a form of technology that I could use in a library. I decided to go with Twitter for this project. After all, I'm one of those people who was late to getting a Twitter account, now would be my perfect excuse to take part in the Twitter epidemic. Honestly, I found Twitter to be trivial, but I never found myself checking my page constantly for updates from those that I followed. I found plenty of people to follow, that wasn't too much of a problem. There were a multitude of library organizations on Twitter to follow as well as some of the bands that I listen to and celebrities that I enjoy. I followed The Grand Rapids Public Library, Kent District Library, and OCLC, to name a few. I found that the Kent District Library page was very helpful due to the fact that they will post whenever a job opening is available on their Twitter page. The Grand Rapids Public Library gave me helpful updates of when it will close early, or what activities are going on there. OCLC helped me stay up to date on the latest edition of the Dewey Decimal Classification. I already think microblogging has been implemented into many libraries quite well. All of the uses that I could think of, such as posting job openings, hours, and program updates, are already being done with Twitter. While I personally don't check my Twitter account as often as I should, the times that I would check it, I was provided with very useful information. I think Twitter is a great why to provide this technologically absorbed generation with sufficient information.

Session 13 Skills Blog

For this blog post, I decided to use the article "Hardening the Browser" by Kathleen M. Kern. This article was published in the Spring of 2012. I found my article in the Academic Search Premiere database of EBSCHO HOST. In order to find this article, I kept the search terms rather simple by typing in library internet, all lower case. "Hardening the Browser" speaks of increasing the privacy of library users' information when they use the internet. The features of each popular web browsers are covered, and then the author describes which areas of security need to be improved in each web browser. I know that my library primarily uses Mozilla FireFox, because they believe that that browser is the easiest to protect user information with.

Picasa Project.

For the grand total of 2 people that view my blog posts, does anyone here remember the movie Fargo? You know, the movie that takes place in the middle of nowhere, and it's really snowy all the time? Well, this winter when I was out in Allendale, Michigan, I couldn't help but think of that movie when I saw the beautiful countryside that was around me, so I decided to take pictures of it. I was going to take pictures of the some of the flooding that the Grand River has done to me here, but when I saw this album, I couldn't resist but upload a slideshow of these pictures instead. What I found to be pretty coincidental is that I drive an economy car just like the character off of Fargo did, and I'm driving in a similar area. Go find the opening credits soundtrack to these pictures and it will fit pretty well. Anyway, I'm getting off topic, I just wanted to share these.

Web 2.0 Project

So for my Web 2.0 Project, I decided to do the Twitter Project. Here is a link to my Twitter page, my username is just Spencer Litten. https://twitter.com/SpencerLitten

Search Skills Blog

     For this post, I was to find a peer reviewed, full text article about library website design. The title of the article that I found is "Library Website Design and Database Access" by Barbara T. Mates. The article was published in the academic journal Library Technology Reports as a part of the May/June 2004 issue, volume 40, Issue 3. I found my article in the EBSCO Host Academic Search Premiere database through the Ivy Tech Virtual Library. I found this article by simply typing in library website design, in all lower case, in the search bar of Academic Search Premiere.

     "Library Website Design and Database Access" alludes to our previous session of assistive technology by stating that library website design should be detailed enough for patrons to find information successfully, but at the time same should be accessible for those with physical disabilities. According to this article, the library website is no longer a novelty, and is now a necessity in this technology driven world. This article touches on many of the concepts that were mentioned in Chapter 12 of our textbook such as how a library website should be remote accessible for users. I do happen to have some personal experience with website design. About six or seven years ago now when I was in middle school, I became incredibly curious with how websites were designed.

     After some quick research, I stumbled across HTML, and then began to teach myself how to use it. I would make fake websites through notepad when I would get bored, and did make a website of sorts back in the day through a free domain provider, but I'm not sure if it even exists anymore. I had and still have a lot of fun with HTML, and thanks to it, I've considered the position of web librarian.

Virtual Reference Project

At the Grand Rapids Public Library, I don't believe that virtual reference is available just yet. I think with such a large population, virtual reference may come in handy. Virtual reference may be an effective part of library staff time depending on the questions asked. I didn't have any complaints about using Skype, it seemed rather novel to be able to talk to someone through my computer. Well, I actually just used a text chat. However, Skype may be an inconvenience to patrons who do not have the technology for a video call.

Social Bookmarking Project

     Back in session three of this class, I was presented with the task of picking a social bookmarking website to explore over the course of four weeks. I wasn't entirely familiar with social bookmarking when I began this project, and now after dealing with RSS feeds, I'm a little more aware of social bookmarking. The website that I chose was Diigo. Why Diigo? I had never once heard of this website before, and I thought it would be interesting to me because it's something new that I have never tried. With Diigo, users have the ability to bookmark whatever they find on the web, whether it is an article, song, video, or anything else.
   
     It literally feels like a bookmark that you would use when reading, which is what I enjoy the most about this tool. Before Diigo, I would just use the favorite tool on my web browser to bookmark my websites, but that would make things rather cluttered, because my favorites menu would only hold so many links. Diigo can hold an infinite amount of links from what I can see, though I was only able to favorite a handful of links within the time frame of this project. Another one of my favorite features of this tool is that I am able to create a checklist in my 'library' of saved links. As you can see from my profile library I made a checklist reminding myself that this project and the tech tools project are due next week. There really wasn't a whole lot that I didn't  like about this website.

     I guess the only thing that I can think of off the top of my head is that this website doesn't appear to be used by a lot of people, that's what I don't like. In a library job, I could bookmark articles to help answer patron questions, or jot down on the notes tool of this website the various tasks that I need to complete before the day's end. I was able to locate the library that I will soon be completing an internship at, the Grand Rapids Public Library, but unfortunately their Diigo page is currently down.

The Abandoned Mall of My Childhood: 16 Bits of Memories

Photo by CityCaucus: http://www.flickr.com/photos/citycaucus/3806266351/
Photo License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Sound by OurMedia: http://archive.org/details/Legend_of_Zelda_a_Link_to_the_Past__Kakariko_Village
Sound License: http://archive.org/about/terms.php
 
     It's always a challenge to find an opening statement for a post that contains so much nostalgia for me. Embedding the picture and sound using HTML wasn't a challenge in the slightest for me, it just took a couple of re-edits, because I had my HTML confused, and after finding the proper code, it was a mere 'plug and chug' method to get everything to work properly. Originally, I wanted to use the song "Corridors of Time" off of the video game Chrono Trigger, but I was unable to due to copyright restrictions. I highly recommend looking up that song and listening to it while viewing this picture."Corridors of Time" definitely would have worked well, but the theme that I found does this picture just as much justice.

     Over the years, I have come to appreciate urban decay. I really see it as a form of art. It's especially fun to find buildings with old posters and merchandise in it from the era it was abandoned, then it appears to be eternally frozen in that time period while the rest of the world moves on. After I found a picture of this dying mall, a wave of nostalgia and sadness hit me. It immediately took me back to 1996 when I was a kid in Columbus, Indiana.

     Malls were a large part of my childhood growing up. Every time it rained, snowed, or otherwise wasn't a nice day, odds are my mother would end up throwing my brother and I in our '94 Caravan and take us to the mall in order to keep us from destroying the house out of boredom. Back when I was a kid, the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 dominated the gaming industry along with the Sony Playstation. I remember all of this like it happened yesterday. So whenever I would visit a mall, it was highly likely that I would be playing a demo video game on one of the video game consoles listed above.

     The song that I used was off of  The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It was a video game for the Super Nintendo, released in the early 90's. When I hear this theme, the sound of falling rain on the glass slanted roofs of a mall enters my mind. I'm taken back to The Commons Mall in Columbus, Indiana, before it was shut down. I'm also taken back to the adventure filled, cold autumn air Saturdays at Fair Oaks Mall, back when it was the place to be on the weekend.

     I'll never forget the smell of incense, plastic, and cheap pizza dough as I would enter the mall, scouring the place for an electronics store in order to droll over what the newest form of technology was at the time. There are still malls around of course. The area that I am living in now happens to have one. Unfortunately, the 'magic' of the mall appears to be wearing off for me. As a kid, I found malls to be a wondrous place full of cultural phenomenons just waiting to be discovered. Now, they just feel like big warehouses full of fake, plastic storefronts, containing employees with an equally fake enthusiasm for their company and products, all trying to swindle people out of their money.

     Perhaps it's because I worked in one for a number of months that I no longer care for them as much as I used to. Perhaps it's because malls just aren't what they used to be. They used to be a social haven, back when people would go out and mingle in the evening. Anyone here remember that word? Back before facebook ruled our lives, back when we would make friends not by sending a virtual request by the click of a button, but by physically asking with our mouths, "Wanna be friends?"

     Anyway, I digress, I'm going way too off topic. I think what happened is I grew up, and things don't seem as trivial anymore. As malls all over America (or I guess in my case, the Midwest), slowly diminish and are replaced with other forms of entertainment, I feel as though a part of me has diminished a little inside too. Malls are a link to my past, and I will always be able to cherish the fun times I had as a kid in them.

RSS Feed

     Honestly, I don't know why I never bothered with RSS Feeds. I'm a little surprised that I didn't even bother thinking about them until this assignment. Usually I'll just check whatever website I want to visit for it's latest updates. I guess I like to still type in urls to keep my fingers in shape for typing on my keyboard. Anyway, I decided to subscribe to Angela Mayer's and Sondria Steadman's blog. As for the two news websites to subscribe to, I decided to go with USA Today and Drudge Report. Coincidentally enough Drudge Report is a popular news site I've heard about but still haven't found the time to read. Thanks to this RSS Feed, I'm now able to.
     As I said before, I don't know why I never bothered with subscribing to RSS Feeds, they're quite nifty from what I can see. Rather than having to tirelessly check the same websites I visit everyday, I can have any updates come to me the instant the updates happen. I think I'm going to like using RSS Feeds a lot. I'm definitely going to subscribe to other RSS Feeds on my other e-mail accounts, and I'll probably continue using them for as long as they are in existence.

New Technology in Libraries

     Well, it's been already been two years since I've had the chance to work in a library, I can't believe how time flies. At the library that I previously worked at back in high school, I'll be perfectly honest here, the staff there didn't exactly focus on updating technology as much as they should have. I'm not sure if it was just the library that I worked at, but it took them a number of years to clean up their website, it was a mess of HTML when I first started working there, and I'm not even sure if there are self checkouts there today. However, where I'm currently living in the Grand Rapids area, there recently was a new form of technology implemented to the Grand Rapids Public Library in the Fall of 2012. During this time, self checkouts were finally installed in the circulation part of the library where people checkout their books, which happens to be at the main entrance.
     The purpose of the self-checkouts were to reduce lines. Normally on a weekend the entrance would be incredibly crowded. I as well as other library patrons, were surprised at first to see the information desk having been moved to a different location of the library and in it's place a series of computers and scanners, however this did not affect library operations too much. There was a librarian there to specifically aid patrons with the self-checkouts, and to answer any of their questions about why the information desk had been moved to a different location.
     Usually a lot of college students, including myself, will come to this library, sometimes in between classes. Before they would be in a time crunch, and waiting in a line didn't help anything. Now they can find and check out a book in a matter of minutes and still have time to make it to their next class.

Search Skills Blog

     For this blog, I had to look up an article pertaining to a current trend in the Library Technology/Science field. After a little while of searching, I came across the article titled "RFID Standards" by Lori Bowen Ayre. This article was published in July of 2012. This article discusses the new trend of RFID tags on library books. I found this article using the EBSCOhost Academic Premiere online database provided by Ivy Tech. RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. Many libraries in America are trying to make the switch to RFID tags for their books.
     Rather than having to put a magnetic strip in the books and use a large alarm system such as gates, libraries will be able to track the exact location of where the library book is at and when it was checked out. The main issues with RFID tags is that for a little while, there weren't  any standards for using them, and a lot of libraries trying to integrate them into their system before the standards were created, causing some disarray in the circulation department. Now that standards have been set, many libraries have decided to give RFID tags a shot. Currently, neither the library that I used to work at nor the Ivy Tech library has decided to use these to the best of my knowledge. Personally, I think this will be a very effective and innovative way to track library books.
     Right now this trend is off to a rough start, but that isn't uncommon for new forms of library technology. I remember as a kid when my library first got electronic gates, and that didn't take off right away either. I think now that standards have been put in place, this trend will become commonplace in all libraries in due time.

Core Competencies

     Alright, second blog for the day. After hastily trying to put together a presentable blog (that I think is coming together alright), I was presented with the task of having to take an assessment of some kind. It turns out this mysterious test was an assessment that was created by the University of North Texas. Through this, I had a chance to have my computer knowledge assessed. The assessment was broken into seven parts: Basics, Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Database, Presentation, Internet, and Web Development. I went ahead and post my results here as you can see:

Basics

You demonstrate a 95% comprehension in the Basics Knowledge area.
You demonstrate a 100% comprehension in the Basic Skills area.
You demonstrate a 97% in the Basics Assessment Group.

I'm not very surprised by this in the slightest. I am, after all, a part of the first generation that received the functional internet, and by functional I mean dial-up. However, that on top of numerous school computer classes have taught me plenty about Computer Basics.

Word Processing

You demonstrate a 100% comprehension in the Processing Knowledge area.
You demonstrate a 100% comprehension in the Processing Skills area.
You demonstrate a 100% comprehension in the Processing Assessment Group.

This once again comes as no surprise. I have been practicing using a word processor since the late 90's. A word processor is key to communication through a computer, especially in an online college.

SpreadSheet

You demonstrate a 63% in the Spreadsheet Knowledge area.
You demonstrate a 58% in the Spreadsheet Skills area.
You demonstrate a 59% in the Spreadsheet Assessment Group.

Now this one caught me off guard. It's been at least two years since I've used anything requiring a spreadsheet, so this is definitely something I want to come out of this class having improved.

Database

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Database Knowledge area.

You demonstrate a  78 % comprehension in the Database Skills area.

You demonstrate a  88 % comprehension in the Database Assessment Group.

I feel pretty glad that I remember databases. This will be one less hassle for me this semester.

Presentation

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Presentation Knowledge area.

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Presentation Skills area.

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Presentation Assessment Group.

Once again, growing up, Microsoft Powerpoint was the default program for group projects, so I've had a lot of experience with it. I'm happy to see that I knew everything there is to know about this though.

Internet

You demonstrate a  89 % comprehension in the Internet Knowledge area.

You demonstrate a  98 % comprehension in the Internet Skills area.

You demonstrate a  93 % comprehension in the Internet Assessment Group.

It's nice to see that I know quite a bit about the internet as well. I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but this is yet another tool that I've had years of experience with, starting in about 1999.

Web Development 

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Web Development Knowledge area.

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Web Development Skills area.

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Web Development Assessment Group.

I feel rather proud of myself for scoring a 100% on every area in web development. I remember teaching myself HTML when I was about  fourteen, I'm surprised at how much I was able to retain.

Introduction

     

Hello fellow classmates. This is my second introductions of sorts and an introduction to my blog. Right now it seems rather barren I'm sure. I plan on changing that by the end of the semester. As I said before, I was born in Columbus, Indiana, and now I'm living in a suburb of beautiful Grand Rapids. My current aspiration is to finish my Associate's in Library Technology, and then move onto getting my bachelor's degree in Music. I would love to experiment more with synthesizers during my piano career. I'm not currently employed, but in High School, I worked as a page for the Greensburg Public Library. My hobbies include playing video games, reading, and playing the piano as well as listening to music.