Monday, May 19, 2008

BLOGS

The first time I heard of “blogging” was in 1985. I read about it in one of my favorite books, Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. I never imagined it would become so popular. I created my first blog in 2004 when I moved from Michigan to Florida. It was a means to keep in touch with my family and friends.
As librarians we need to embrace technology and use it to reach out to the public. If we don’t get with the times, we will become boring and the public will not view us as useful. We need to be where the public is (on the internet) and guide them to the library. We can have blogs that are interesting and eye catching, and “speak their language”, to hook the public, then bring them to our webpage. Our webpage must be easy to use, modeled after things they are familiar such as amazon.com.

Below is a list of helpful articles:

Saxton, B. Information Tools: Using Blogs, RSS, and Wikis As Professional Resources. Young Adult Library Services v. 6 no. 2 (Winter 2008) p. 27-9

Rempel, H. G., et. al., Infodoodads--Building a New Blog Community. Computers in Libraries v. 28 no. 4 (April 2008) p. 16-21

Barack, L. Pimp Your Library. School Library Journal v. 54 no. 3 (March 2008) p. 27

7 1/2 HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL LIFELONG LEARNERS

7 1/2 HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL LIFELONG LEARNERS
1. Begin with the end in mind
2. Accept responsibility for your own learning
3. View problems as challenges
4. Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner
5. Create your own learning toolbox
6. Use technology to your advantage
7. Teach/mentor others
7 1/2 PLAY!

The habits listed above are practical and useful. They are commonsense guidelines you can use to enrich your life. At different times in our lives we have called on each of them. If we call on them more often and use them on a regular basis we can live more fulfilled lives. I think the most difficult one for me is to begin with the end in mind. Sometimes I enjoy the process so much I don’t focus on the end result. Especially if the process takes a long time.