RSS Feeds

I think RSS feeds are really cool. I will just have to remember to check mine! :) I thought it was fun to go out their and find interesting sites to add to your bloglines account. I set up a feed for USA Today and Charlotte.com breaking news stories. I really liked adding all my friends blogs. Now, I don't have to remember all their blog addresses! I think having an RSS feed is very beneficial to libraries. It's just another great way to communicate with our customers. They can sign up for our "Breaking News" RSS feed and keep up with all the interesting programs going on in the library.

Here is a link to my bloglines:
http://www.bloglines.com/public/bookgirl11

Bookgirl11 avatar

Bookgirl11 avatar
Originally uploaded by bookgirl11.

this is my avatar.

My Flickr Page

I've been asked for my Flickr page address to be posted. Here ya go!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bookgirl11/

Most of the photos I posted were from trips and adventures this summer. I also have some library pics.

Enjoy!

Technology

Thing #7 is to blog about anything technology related. Technology is such a big part of all of our lives. We use it without even thinking. Sometimes I think I take it for granted. For example, what did I do before my cell phone and email? How did I keep in touch with friends and family? Today I would be totally lost with my cell and access to email. I attended the Tech Summit earlier this month. One of the presenters talked alot about using technology for social interaction. Experimenting with Learning 2.0 has opened my eyes to many new technologies that I can use in my personal and professional life. Last night I loaded my first Flickr photos. Today I had a message from someone who found one of my photos and thought it would be a good entry for a photo contest she was having. How's that for social networking?!

Flickr Fun

Playing with Flickr can make the hours fly away. Just uploading your favorite photos, adding tags, descriptions...whew! I really enjoyed playing with the mashups and third party Flickr tools. I experimented mostly with FD's Flickr Toys. I made a movie poster and a calendar. All those tools were really interesting but the one I liked the most was the calendar. I could really see myself using this one. I have some great vacation photos and this is a perfect way to use them and remember my fun times.

Cinnamon Bay, St. John

Cinnamon Bay, St. John
Originally uploaded by meganleewelch.

I found this great picture of Cinnamon Bay in St. John on Flickr. Last May I vacationed in the U.S. Virgin Islands. St. John was my favorite island. It had a very relaxed atmosphere. Stress is not in the vocabulary on this island. The water was so clear and blue. Just breathtaking...I can't wait to go back!

7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners

The second "thing" of the 23 is to look at how you become a lifelong learner. The library trainer put together a great online tutorial that describes the "7 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners." Our task is to determine which habit will be the easiest for us and which will be the hardest.

The hardest habit for me to focus on is habit #4, "View problems as challenges." It seems to me that whenever I have a problem, I don't spend enough time on my own finding answers. I ask for help from others. I know that asking for help is also included in habit #2 (Accept responsibility for learning) but I feel I should spend more time trying to find the answer before giving up and asking others.

The easiest habit for me to focus on is habit #7, "Teach/mentor others." I enjoy helping others and showing them things I have learned. And of course I love to play so that will be easy! :)

Lifelong learning

I happen to know a lot of "techie's". They are very instrumental in keeping me in the know about new gadgets and web stuff. I also like to share my findings with others. I think that's a big component of lifelong learning. I've already learned how to set up an RSS feed from a co-worker. I think I will have to edit my RSS feed though. I was a little overzealous in my additions. We'll see. I'll try it out for a week or so and if it's too much, I'll scale it down.

Learning 2.0

I'm very fortunate to work for an organization that encourages their employee's to learn and have fun doing it. My library just started a new program called "Learning 2.0". In the program there are 23 things that staff are encouraged to experiment and learn about. It's mostly new technology such as blogs, RSS feeds, wiki's, etc. These are great tools that we can use to communicate within our organization as well as with our borrowers. And the part....if we complete our 23 Things by Oct.31, we get a USB/MP3 player. Way cool!

So, this is the start of my blog for this project. I'm looking forward to learning through this process....